"When Jesus is in Your Story"

I attended a Women's Spring Tea at church. Her subject was, "When Jesus is in Your Story" and as I listened, I was reminded of a couple grandmother stories from the scriptures. For this Mothers Day, I would like to share them with you.

" 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also." 2 Timothy 1:5 

This was a devout mother, who raised her daughter to also love the Lord, and under their lifelong teaching, Timothy grew up to be a young man filled with love and honor for his God, which positioned him to be used in Paul's ministry. 

Well, that was a Maternal Grandma, but what about the 'other' grandmothers; the Paternal Grandmas? How close can a paternal mother in law actually be? How faithful can a paternal grandmother be?

1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

² And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
³ And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
⁴ And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years. Ruth 1:1-4

Naomi was a Jewess from the city of Bethlehem. During hard times, she lost her husband and ten year later she lost her sons. To say that her heart was broken hardly explains it. She told her friends that the Lord had dealt harshly with her. 

She determined to return to her own land where at least she knew people. Because she loved her daughter in laws and because she wished them only good, she told them to leave and to return to their own land. The women cared for Naomi and didn't want to leave her, but Naomi told them to go and to find new husbands and to have children with them. She accepted the years of oneness in front of her, but she wanted better for them.

They both wept as they loved Naomi. Orpah returned to her country, but Ruth refused. In one of the most beautiful statements in the Bible;

^"16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
¹⁷ Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." Ruth 1:16-17

Ruth didn't just travel with Naomi, she gave her heart and her beliefs to Naomi.

When they reached Bethlehem, old friends recognized Naomi and she was reintroduced to her family. There was a wealthy man in her family and his name was Boaz. I won't go into all the details, but Naomi played matchmaker, and Ruth married Boaz. 

The story begins at that point. Ruth and Boaz had a son named Obed. In time, Obed had a son named Jesse, and from the sons of Jesse, there was one chosen - David - to be the King of Israel. 

The scriptures say;

^"13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
¹⁴ And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel.
¹⁵ And he shall be unto thee a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath born him.
¹⁶ And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it." Ruth 4:13-16

Ruth loved her mother in law, and Naomi loved her daughter-in-law and she loved Ruth's child. In the book of Luke, we find that their love fulfilled prophecy, and in Naomi's home town of Bethlehem, their relationship and love became a part of the  blood line from God to Jesus earthly parents - Mary and Joseph. 
  
As our speaker said, when Jesus is in your story, anything is possible such as the supernatural love between a widowed mother in law, her widowed daughter in law, that ended in both of them being used by God in the most important event in human experience, the birth of the Messiah.  

Supernatural love can still happen in families who can overcome.. A grieving mother in law can still be a restorer of life and a nourisher. Little children can still warm themselves in her arms, and as with Obed, only God knows what those children who are nourished and loved by their grandmother might someday become, when Jesus is in the story.