“…Where did you glean today?…”

“Where did you glean today and where did you work?” Ruth 2:19

First things first, it was brought to my attention by a good friend that “glean” apparently isn’t in the standard vocabulary of your typical blog reader. Funny. Aggregate culture and blogging don’t seem to have an overwhelming amount of overlap. Go figure. So, gleaning was a practice first implemented by God’s good grace (in Leviticus 19:9-10)for the poor and foreigners. After the field workers harvested the grain of their field once, they could not go over it a second time and were not to harvest into the pockets of the corners. What they missed or skipped over was what we refer to today as a welfare program. Those who were willing to work could go and harvest the remainder from any field, or “glean” what was left. I would like to add a more modern comprehension of this word as it has also taken to mean, that which we collect or pick up along the way in terms of ideas or wisdom, as in, “what did you glean from the sermon today?” Doeth not all people speaketh so?

Okay, got that out of the way. Now, if you haven't read the book of Ruth with a good commentary, like Jon Courson, then you are definitely missing out. This week, I was reading through and this verse or rather, this piece or morsel of this verse, totally struck me. If you are like me, then you are faced with constant decisions. Decision fatigue is such a real thing. Daily I hope and think and pray that I am listening to the Holy Spirit and making decisions that honor God. However, I am excessively proficient when it comes to talking myself into and out of things. Good things, bad things... doesn't matter. I can convince myself to do or not do the same thing in the same day, sometimes even for the same reasons. Man, I am so darn persuasive... but it has caused me to be, I'm afraid, what James 1:8 refers to as “a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways,” or as they say in Chicken Little, “a gutless flip-flopper”. Sigh.

So at times, I find myself begging and pleading God to show me what I should do. HOW do I hear from You, Lord? How do I listen for that Still, Small Voice when my inner voice keeps talking over every. other. voice. This may or may not be, ahem, something that I also need to work on in real life with my real people. I think, oftentimes, that the Lord does speak to me in my early morning quiet time, and I'm like, “Okey dokie, got it all figured out. That's pretty clear, Lord.” Then the day goes on and I'm like, “....buuuuut what about this and what about that and what about them and what about me?...” And before you know it, I can do a total 180 and talk myself right out of the thing that I was so sure of.

Through much reading and digging and studying, I have seen over and over that one of the methods of confirming an answer is to hold it up to the Word of God. Like taking a counterfeit bill and comparing it to the real thing. “Which one of these things is not like the other....?” (Sesame Street anyone?) Find the differences? It is a perfect match or are there more leaves on that flower and a pocket on the boys shirt where there isn't one in the other picture. But seriously, does “my idea” sound like God's good grace? Does this idea seem like it will glorify God and serve others? Will this effort honor my husband and guard my ministry unto my children?

...Or...does it just make sense by the world's standards? In Jonathan Pokluda's podcast episode 344: Obeying the Voice of God he discusses how the voice of the world and the voice of the enemy “makes sense”. “This will make me money”, “I want to protect my investments”, “I have enough time for this”, “I will enjoy this”, “This will bring me pleasure”. Makes sense. Buuuuut, walking in faith rarely “makes sense”. THAT, my friend, is why it is called faith. It doesn't make sense at face value. It is not until we are on the other side of obedience to God that we could have ever imagined that He would work it out that way. In His omniscience He sees the whole picture, He knows the whole time line, what strings need to be tugged and what (or who!) needs to be added or eliminated, and it is in His infinite creativity that He works it all out.

Let's bring this full circle. “Where did you glean today and where did you work?” What ideas did you pick up? What voices are you listening to? What worldview are you allowing to shape your understanding of what's next for you? Where did you work today? Did you put forth efforts and grind today in the world's economy, pursuing that which the world pursues?

Or did you glean from the Word of God, filling your mind with Truth, Wisdom and Understanding. When I lay this foundation in my heart before the sun comes up, before my kids roll out of bed, then I am better able to answer, “Does this sound like my loving Shepherd? Should I pursue this 'work'? And to what end?”

Girl (or Dude, as the case may be), as the thoughts run wildly through your head, you pursue this or that, you expend these efforts toward a goal, ask yourself, “Where did I glean today and where have I worked?” By this metric, this straight-edge, we can better perceive where we have veered from what is straight (and narrow), right and true. And then, in turn, course correct.

May the good Lord bless you, Friend, with a sound mind today in Christ Jesus.