If a Tree Falls in the Woods
Ruth 2:10-12
"At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
God knows what we do despite people not seeing nor noticing. Lisa Simpson asked her brother Bart an age-old philosophy question (age-old? Nah, 18th Century, Bishop Berkeley took materialism to its consistent logical conclusions): "If a tree falls in the woods and no one's around, does it make a sound?", "Absolutely! Eeeeeek...crash" exclaimed Bart. "But Bart, how can sound exist if there's no one there to hear it?" Lisa retorted, to this Bart: "Wooooooo..." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLEat_Sqo7I]. God is with us and He is omniscient (all-knowing, He knows all true propositions), He is cognisant of and causally active at. It comforts us to know that our obedience and good deeds will never come to naught, it also terrifies me that my rebelliousness and sinful acts are always known to the righteous Judge of the Earth (Gen 18:25). But we can also trust that God is loving and will dispense true justice, right all wrongs in His time, and yet He is gracious, granting mercy to those who seek it in earnest repentance in Christ. God knows our struggles, our losses, and our wins over our sinful nature and He is fair and kind. He completely understands each one of us. There was simply no upside to Ruth following Naomi (Ruth 1:11-13), but here we see the principle at work: "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9)." God found delight in Ruth, not only on the strength of her character and resolve, but for her taking refuge in Him (Ruth 1:16); and He blessed her through Naomi and Boaz. The answer to Lisa's question? Here's a limerick:
"There was a young man who said "God
Must find it exceedingly odd
To think that the tree
Should continue to be
When there's no one about in the quad."
"Dear Sir: Your astonishment's odd;
I am always about in the quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by, Yours faithfully, God."
"At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under Whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
God knows what we do despite people not seeing nor noticing. Lisa Simpson asked her brother Bart an age-old philosophy question (age-old? Nah, 18th Century, Bishop Berkeley took materialism to its consistent logical conclusions): "If a tree falls in the woods and no one's around, does it make a sound?", "Absolutely! Eeeeeek...crash" exclaimed Bart. "But Bart, how can sound exist if there's no one there to hear it?" Lisa retorted, to this Bart: "Wooooooo..." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLEat_Sqo7I]. God is with us and He is omniscient (all-knowing, He knows all true propositions), He is cognisant of and causally active at. It comforts us to know that our obedience and good deeds will never come to naught, it also terrifies me that my rebelliousness and sinful acts are always known to the righteous Judge of the Earth (Gen 18:25). But we can also trust that God is loving and will dispense true justice, right all wrongs in His time, and yet He is gracious, granting mercy to those who seek it in earnest repentance in Christ. God knows our struggles, our losses, and our wins over our sinful nature and He is fair and kind. He completely understands each one of us. There was simply no upside to Ruth following Naomi (Ruth 1:11-13), but here we see the principle at work: "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Galatians 6:9)." God found delight in Ruth, not only on the strength of her character and resolve, but for her taking refuge in Him (Ruth 1:16); and He blessed her through Naomi and Boaz. The answer to Lisa's question? Here's a limerick:
"There was a young man who said "God
Must find it exceedingly odd
To think that the tree
Should continue to be
When there's no one about in the quad."
"Dear Sir: Your astonishment's odd;
I am always about in the quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by, Yours faithfully, God."
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