And Ruth said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after one in whose sight I may find favor.” Ruth 2:1

I’ve learned the hard way that decisions made in the heat of emotion can come back to haunt me. Passion can inspire bold beginnings, but it cannot sustain them.  Ruth was now in Bethlehem with Naomi, far from everything familiar.  She and Naomi were confronted with their meager resources and the prospect of hard labor to make ends meet. Ruth is up to the task. Yet Scripture records no second-guessing, no wistful glance backward toward Moab. Ruth doesn’t ask for an easier path. She says, “Let me go to the fields.” Her heart turns not to what was, but to what is. She leans into the day’s demands with quiet resolve.

Choosing to embark on a new venture is easier than seeing it through to completion. A fresh endeavor holds my interest while the thrill of a past commitment diminishes with time. Because of that, it is easy to become one who starts things but never finishes them. The grind of ordinary days ushers in a slow kind of testing.

With every dream, there is a reckoning. Once birthed, the beauty of it is often obscured by rigorous daily challenges. I think of Daughters of Promise.  Its beginnings were drenched in miracle. God opened doors I could never have forced. Between spiritual mountaintops lie long stretches of valley — administrative work, intermittent financial challenges, and spiritual opposition. It’s so easy to long only for the glory and resist the grit. I cannot be childish, only desiring what is fun and brings instant gratification.

Ruth was wise. Feelings did not rule her life, but neither was there an absence of them. Her life was lived in proper balance, rich with emotion but anchored by a steadfast spirit.

Lord, continue to give me a heart that delights in Your work. When the labor feels heavy, strengthen my resolve. Let my faithfulness become its own form of worship. Amen.