In Ruth 3 we read the story between Ruth and Boaz when he tells her that there is someone ahead of him to redeem her. What I love about this is that when Boaz said, "If he doesn't want to take you, I'll take you." (Ruth 3:13) What we see here is that, even though there's an obstacle, Boaz is completely occupied with Ruth's future. We have to realize that in applying it to our lives, Jesus is completely occupied with our future.
He's the Redeemer.
He wouldn't have come down to the earth and redeemed humanity if He wasn't occupied with all of humanity's future. It’s predominant in His heart and because of that, prophecy connects us to our future when we don't fully comprehend the Lord's ways. I could imagine that Ruth did not comprehend everything. "What do you mean someone's ahead of him? He's been so kind, he's in love with me..." I'm sure in that moment of not really understanding what's going on, one hasn't had a moment of questioning, "Well, wait, God, I don't understand what you're doing."
But what prophecy does, is it connects and reconnects us to our future.
This is what I love about the prophetic. It reconnects me to my purpose. It reconnects me to where I'm going. I can steer off the path or get off the course a little bit and it puts me right back on that course. It communicates how the Lord wants to please us. Isn't that amazing?
The Lord wants to please His people.
There’s something I love to do when I’m with my grandchildren. Although I’m usually busy ministering, when I have the opportunity to spend time with all five of them, I usually end up taking them to the grocery store and let them fill the cart with whatever their hearts desire. I get so much joy watching them walk down the aisles, skipping and hopping, grabbing things that mom and dad don’t usually buy for them. It’s not about the doughnuts, or the chocolate milk. But the joy of seeing their little faces light up. You see, when God prophesies over you, He's communicating His desire to want to please you. That's what's so beautiful about the prophetic.
If you continue reading Ruth 3, towards the end of that chapter you see that Ruth returns to Naomi and tells her what Boaz has done for her. What we read next is Naomi prophesying and decreeing, “Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day.” (Ruth 3:18)
When Naomi prophesied “He’ll take care of the matter today,” it put the expectation back into Ruth and it became the fuel for her to be able to wait. This is a perfect example of what the prophetic does, it reignites the expectation in our hearts, that while in the midst of waiting, “I know God's going to take care of this”.
Jesus is concerned about what matters to you and I, and He can fix it. He's concerned about America. He's concerned about the nations of the earth. Which means that God is committed to settle the things that matter to you. Just as Naomi prophesied to Ruth, He'll take care of this matter today. If it matters to you, because He's in love with you, He's going to take care of it today, and not leave you hanging, not leave you in suspense. He didn't come to leave us in suspense. He came to redeem us.
Blessings,
John Harke Team