What to do ?

Sunday July 4, 2021

What to do ?

He will tell you what to do himself. Ruth 3:4

A Christian is sometimes faced with choices and must make a decision. He is preoccupied, worried, perplexed. He carefully analyzes the pros and cons of different options and reflects on their consequences. Yet he doesn’t clearly see the choice he has to make. It is even possible that none of the possibilities explored are satisfactory. The question then arises : What to do ? Here are some examples :

Naomi and Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, arrived in Bethlehem. These two women are widows and destitute of everything. What to do ? Naomi advises her daughter-in-law to quietly enter the area where Boaz, a close relative of the family, will fall asleep, and lie at her feet. This is where Boaz will teach her what to do, she said. Naomi knows that their safety can only come from him, for he has the right of redemption (2.20). He is a figure of the Lord Jesus. At his feet, that is, in a humble attitude, we learn, through prayer, what his will is (Deuteronomy 33:3).

This is also what Moses, aware of his heavy task, does when he asks God : Let me know your ways (Exodus 33:13). What is the result of his request ? He (the Lord) made known his ways to Moses (Psalm 103:7).

David too, enjoying a liberated conscience after confessing his sin, receives from God this invaluable promise : I will instruct you and show you the way you should follow ; I will advise you, I will have my eyes on you (Psalm 32:8).

Based on his experience, the apostle Paul asserts that a Christian can be perplexed, but not helpless (2 Corinthians 4:8).

All the resources of God's grace, through prayer, through a close daily relationship with the Lord, through the reading of his Word, dispel our perplexity. We then hear his voice : Here is the path to take, walk there ! (Isaiah 30:21). He is the Counselor par excellence (Isaiah 9:6) and David experienced it : I bless the Lord, for he counsel me ; even at night my heart teaches me (Psalm 16:7).

What to do ? Turn, with faith, to the one who knows all (John 21:17).

Source (Pleasing the Lord)