Raising Expectations For A Boaz

We’ve got some attitude growing in our house these days, attitude the size of a pre-teen young boy. I don’t know how, but I remember being a pre-teen and my mother talking to me about an attitude that I refused to own at the time. Me, a brat? Never! Raising responsible young boys is not easy and I’ll be honest it has been wearing me out lately! As I pray for myself (my own attitude and weariness), the pre-teen “attitude” in our home, I am also in prayer for some REMARKABLE ladies this morning. Some of who I know and some of who I don’t—some of who are walking with light and love and some who are desperate for love and walking in the dark—I am reminded of my own responsibility to shape this pre-teen attitude to have a keen sense of responsibility and integrity. “Lord, make him a Boaz and awake their desire for a Boaz in the night.” So interesting and not a coincidence that this week my studying brought me to, two wonderful stories in the Bible that are connected together and connected to you and me in Christ! So thrilling to read our history in the pages of the Bible and be inspired by them. As I pray for the hearts walking in darkness, desperate for love…I read about Rahab, the prostitute in Joshua 2 and the rescuing of her heart and loved ones tied to cords of scarlet. Recognizing that these cords of love are connected to another story of rescuing; my heart melts reading the story of this young, responsible man full of integrity—Boaz—raised by Rahab, the prostitute. (WOW!) As I read of this man…this hero, his words spoken to the woman (Ruth) in need made my heart melt and I asked God to not only develop this hero heart in my pre-teen boy, but to also bring this kind of hero to the many women desperate for love. All women deserve and need a hero like Boaz, one who will encourage us to stay (verse 8); one who will tell the men not to touch us (verse 9), one who will provide us food and drink (verse 9); one who give us work that allows us to keep our dignity and keeps us safe (verse 12); one who will give orders to other men not to embarrass us (verse 15). Lord help us raise such a Boaz in our boys and accept nothing but a Boaz to love our little girls. Bring a Boaz in the night for all that need one and help me shape a Boaz here at home. “May the Lord reward your work and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” Ruth 2:12 NAS