SUBMIT TO COUNSEL

• DAY 149
• FAITH FILE: RUTH
• SCRIPTURES: RUTH 3

“Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, shall I not seek security for you, that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, whose young women you were with, is he not our relative? In fact, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. Therefore wash yourself and anoint yourself, put on your best garment and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. Then it shall be, when he lies down, that you shall notice the place where he lies; and you shall go in, uncover his feet, and lie down; and he will tell you what you should do.” And she said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.””

‭‭Ruth‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“All that you say to me I will do!” These are words of a confident woman. In our society today, it is not as easy to find women make this same declaration. Everyone wants to display self acquired wisdom and independence and the harvest of broken homes, unruly kids and misplaced values are starring us back in the face. Why? Not because God hates wisdom, but he designed the life of a faith filled person to function in community.

Older women are to teach younger women what it means to function as a wife and mother of the house. We are meant to rely on a multitude of counsel to be safe. We were not wired for isolation and self reliance. So guess what the enemy tries to promote? The exact same principles we are not wired for. He feeds us with arrogant thoughts that got him kicked out of heaven in the first place and the world buys it hook, line and sinker. But a woman of faith can see through his lies.

Security Counsel

Ruth was so loved by her mother-in-law that she (Naomi)  wanted to provide her security. And this says a lot about Naomi. She wasn’t trying to keep Ruth to herself or stand in the way of her future because she just wants someone to be by her. She was secure enough to nudge and guide Ruth into the life she deserves. In their day, a husband was security for a woman. And Ruth lost her security when her husband passed. Naomi in response to Ruth’s devotion to her sought to restore this one thing for her. 

This might be a good place to state that  husband is still the security of the family unit even today. We have to do away with a lot of misguided feminist ideologies in other to defeat the plots of the enemy.

Imagine that Ruth felt that she didn’t need the counsel of Naomi. Imagine she erroneously refused to go with the plan, when the genealogy of Jesus is recounted in Matthew 1 she’d have been missing from the count. Submitting to wise counsel will pave way to your future. Every woman of faith needs a godly woman, preferably older, that their counsel will activate wisdom for the future.

Don’t Let Fear Win

Counsel will save us from unnecessary mistakes. When we submit to wisdom, it will call us back when we come close to the edge. But why do we find it hard to submit? FEAR

The enemy has lied to us that there are no more pure people out there. He lies to us that everyone has an agenda. That people want to control and manipulate us. Or that we don’t need someone telling us what to do when we can figure it out ourselves. Afterall their time is different from ours. We forget that there is nothing new under the sun. The same principles that made marriage work in the 80s are still the same today but interpreted differently. 

Women still need to submit and men still need to love. Forgiveness and unconditional acceptance arrest as necessary as communication. So do you see how that was a lie? I must admit that not every counselor has a pure heart but that’s why we shouldn’t choose one based on our own wisdom. As always we should ask God first.

Beloved, I want security too, the one that counsel provides and I hope you want same too. Do not be afraid to draw from the well of those that have gone ahead you. Let God guide your heart as you select who He has prepared for that role.

Shalom.