(This is what we’ll be doing tonight at Two or Three with a take home of camomile tea with the inscription “Be still and know” Note: Just realized that hitting the SAK could have a whole new meaning – SAK – Still And Know 🙂 )
Questions:
Last time we talked about Cinderella and Queen Esther. What happened in your last two weeks where you were allowed to wear and use what fits you so perfectly? What was your glass slipper or crown? Did you have anything opportunities to wear and use what fits each of us – Courage? (Sharing)
What is your favorite thing about napping, sleeping, lying down? (rest, quiet, time to reflect, peace)
What is your least favorite thing about it? (need to get stuff done, “waste of time”, feel like you’re missing out on something)
We’re going to look at two women who experienced something good and life-changing in their place of rest. Amazing things happen to each of them because they were in a position of rest. Let’s look at these two stories and find the similarities and what we can take away from them to apply to our own lives.
Sleeping Beauty –
Once upon a time, a baby was born to a King and Queen. Adorable and sweet, she was the talk of the kingdom and everyone loved her.
A christening was planned. All of the fairies of the land were invited. Or at least the queen thought that she had invited all of them. But she had forgotten one. The fairy who was overlooked burned with anger and came despite the oversight to be part of the celebration of new life. She, however, had no intention of sharing in the joy. She had a much more devious ulterior reason for attending.
Each of the fairies blessed the precious baby with promises of lovely things like love, joy and beauty. But when the uninvited fairy passed by the child, the queen’s heart dropped. She suddenly realized that this fairy had not been invited and she dreaded the words that would come out of her mouth.
With an evil grin, the fairy waved her hand over the sleeping infant and said, “When the princess is seventeen years old, she will prick her finger with a spindle, and she will die!” Imagine the queen’s grief when hearing such awful words of doom.
But there was one fairy left who had not given her blessing yet. And while she couldn’t completely erase the wicked fairy’s spell, she could alter it somewhat. She looked lovingly at the child and blessed her with the promise that she would not die when she pricked her finger but would merely fall into a deep sleep for 100 years and would be awakened by the son of a King from another kingdom. This blessing touched and somewhat calmed the hearts of the king and queen.
Not completely satisfied that their daughter would be safe and somehow hoping they could escape the curse of the wicked fairy, the king issued a ban on all spinning wheels. Throughout the kingdom all spinning wheels and spindles were burned and destroyed to prevent their daughter from the danger of falling into a one hundred year sleep.
Things went well for the first sixteen years of the girl’s life. She grew in stature, beauty and favor with the people of the land. The king and queen nearly forgot the curse that had once hovered over their daughter’s infant head.
But on day of her seventeenth birthday as everyone in the kingdom was busy making preparations for her birthday celebration, the princess, always curious (a blessing from one of the fairies), wandered to a part of the vast castle, to a tower she had never ventured before. She climbed countless stairs, turned numerous corners and eventually found herself in a room where a lonely old woman sat spinning. Since all spinning wheels in the kingdom had been banned, the princess had never seen such a thing and was intrigued. She walked up to the contraption and stuck her finger out to touch it. Not realizing how sharp the spindle would be she pricked her finger and with the first drop of blood, fell lifeless to the floor.
When the king and queen, worried sick with her disappearance, finally found her they realized that though they tried their best, they were not able to save their daughter from her terrible fate. Remember what the fairy said, that she would sleep for one hundred years, they took her to a secluded room and laid her in a beautiful bed, not knowing what else to do.
News travelled fast and the fairy who had predicted her long sleep got word of the princess’ state. She flew to her side to see for herself and was heartbroken to realize that when the princess awoke she would be all by herself as the rest of the people that she knew in the kingdom would be long gone. So she caused a deep sleep to fall upon the entire kingdom. And the kingdom became still and quiet, all signs of life gone from the castle. Thorns and thistles grew up around the entire land and for a hundred years the kingdom lay dormant.
But true to the fairy’s blessing when a century had passed, a neighboring king’s son came upon the overgrown castle. He’d heard a story about a sleeping princess within the palace walls. This looked unlikely, given the state of this kingdom, but curiosity got the best of him and he fought his way through to see exactly what was hidden behind its walls.
He came upon bodies lying everywhere. It appeared that everyone was dead, but as he got closer he realized that absolutely everyone was only sleeping so deeply that they couldn’t be awakened. He made his way throughout the castle, looking in every room only to find the same thing.
There was only one room left to search. As he opened the door, he couldn’t believe his eyes. There on the most elaborate bed he’d ever seen lay the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. This must be the princess he had heard about since he was a child. A story he’d come to believe was only a tale. Overcome by her beauty, he reached down and kissed her gently and was struck speechless when she opened her eyes and smiled at him as if she expected his arrival.
At that kiss, the entire kingdom came back to life. And the heroic prince took his newly awakened princess back to his kingdom to marry and one day reign with her there where they would live happily ever after.
Ruth –
Once upon an extremely long time ago, there lived a woman named Naomi. She and her husband had two sons and lived in Bethlehem. But there was a horrible drought and they could no longer survive in their homeland. So they packed up all their belongings and headed to Moab – a 40 mile distance on the other side of the Dead Sea.
After arriving and living in Moab for a time, Naomi’s husband died and she was left to finish raising her two sons. Eventually those sons married two Moabite women. About ten years later, both of Naomi’s sons also died and the widow was left with her two daughters-in-law.
She received word that things were changing in Bethlehem. The drought was over and God was blessing the land and people with plenty. So Naomi and her sons’ widows headed to her homeland, both girls leaving family and country and culture behind. Somewhere along the journey Naomi turned to the girls and encouraged them to return home to their own mothers and the familiarity of their own land so that possibly they could remarry and go on to lead fulfilled lives. Both young women cried and refused to leave her, but eventually one headed back home. Ruth, on the other hand, pledged her loyalty and life to her mother-in-law, saying, ” Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.”
Realizing that she couldn’t change Ruth’s mind, Naomi continued the journey home with the sweet girl by her side.
By the time they reached Bethlehem, Naomi had changed her name to Mara (bitter), signifying the condition of her heart with all of the loss she had experienced. The only good thing in her life was Ruth, this selfless girl that had nothing to gain (seemingly) by staying with her.
But God had a bigger plan for Ruth than just taking care of her grieving mother-in-law. One day, Ruth offered to go out into the fields and follow behind the workers to glean the leftover grain they left behind. This was a way that she could provide food for her mother-in-law and herself. The owner of the field took notice of her, asked where she came from and what she was doing in his field. The man’s name was Boaz and unbeknownst to Ruth, he was the kinsman-redeemer for her late husband’s family. This meant that he was responsible to care for their family in time of need, danger or loss. The person designated to be the family’s protector – to protect their person, their land and their belongings.
When Boaz heard about Ruth’s precious heart for her mother-in-law and the great sacrifices she had made for her, he went and introduced himself and asked her to be part of his harvesting team. Being a foreigner, Ruth was humbled by his graciousness on her behalf. He invited her to his table at lunch and offered her so much food that she had leftovers to take home with her. When she went back out to glean in the afternoon, he asked his workers to purposely leave more behind for her to be able to gather and take home to Naomi.
When Naomi heard how Ruth’s time in the field had gone, she began to formulate a plan. “Boaz is our kinsman-redeemer!” she told Ruth. “Tonight go and wait for him to finish his work in the field and then watch where he makes his bed. Then go and lay at his feet.” Strangely enough, Ruth trusted these instructions and promised to follow through with them. That night after Boaz had fallen asleep, she uncovered his feet and lay at his feet. He woke up startled to see her and asked what she was doing. “You’re our kinsman-redeemer, sir,” she said.
This touched his heart deeply. She was young and could have run after any of the younger men. But she knew that he could rescue her mother-in-law and her assets, so she chose him. He promised her that day that after all of the legal details were carried out, he would fulfill his duty as kinsman-redeemer and marry her and buy all of Naomi’s land to keep it in the family name and to take care of Naomi’s financial needs.
Boaz and Ruth married and gave birth to a little boy named Obed. Obed grew up to become the father of Jesse and Jesse became the father of the eventual King David. Obed brought life and joy not only to his mother and father, but especially to his grandmother Naomi who had thought her heritage would never carry on. And instead of the bitter heart she once possessed, she (and they) lived happily ever after.
What were the common threads between Sleeping Beauty and Ruth?
– both of their lives changed as a result of lying down
– if Sleeping Beauty hadn’t fallen asleep, she never would have met the prince 100 years later. She would have died never having known him.
– if Ruth hadn’t laid down at the feet of Boaz, she wouldn’t have touched his heart the way she did and might not have ended up marrying him and being part of the line through which Jesus was born.
– how do we “lie down”? WHAT do we need to “lie down”? Have we learned to “be still and know”? (Psalm 46:10) Have we learned to rest beside those “quiet waters” in those “green pastures”? Psalm 23:2
– what can we learn when we lie down, when are hearts are quiet and listening.
-Piglet told Winnie the Pooh – “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
This past weekend Matt talked about being in the cave – those discouraging times in our life when it feels like God has left the building. Sleeping Beauty and Ruth both had a cave type experience. Things didn’t look like there was anything good in store. But there was a plan. And there was time in the cave to rest and to wait and to be prepared for what would happen next.
– Both Sleeping Beauty and Ruth were rescued. Sleeping Beauty by a Prince. Ruth by a kinsman-redeemer. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus is called both our Prince and Redeemer? He rescues us from our present state and offers us His kingdom, His salvation. Amazing.
If we’re in a place in our life where it feels like little is happening, instead of being frustrated or bored, can we come to the point of listening in that quietness for what God might be whispering? Can we accept that time of quiet as possible preparation for what God has next?
What would “resting” look like for you?
