You Bring the Present: A Women’s Christmas Devotional Sýnishorn

Ruth: Love Actually

We’ve talked about the excessive amount of pressure women experience around the holidays — it’s A LOT, ladies. But what about the woman who puts the pressure on herself? The one who feels like Christmas wouldn’t exist if she wasn’t there.  

I bet if we asked her how she feels at Christmastime she’d say she feels overlooked, lonely, and overwhelmed. But you wouldn’t know unless you asked her. She’s the one spending the entire day in the kitchen to maybe, just maybe, receive approval from her in-laws. She’s the one putting pressure on herself to make this year “the best Christmas ever” on less than half the budget she had last year. She’s the one smiling through the pain of a break-up that just happened over Thanksgiving break. Everything looks, smells, and feels magical, but behind the smile, she’s keeping it together by a thread.

Ruth knows a thing or two about being overwhelmed. She gets chased by tragedy and is given the choice to run in the other direction and leave her mother-in-law to fend for herself. She chooses to stay.

Israelite and Moabite families collided as two Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah, married two Israelite brothers. Naomi was the men’s mother. I would imagine their family dinners were a collection of a lot of small talk mixed with heavy political debates--the Israelites and Moabites were on opposite ends of the spectrum with their religious beliefs. Yet, here we have two blended families, the Israelites staying in Moab due to a famine that moved them out of Bethlehem. 

However, tragedy came knocking when all three Israelite men died, leaving three widowed women and zero children. Lost. Lonely. Hopeless. Overwhelmed. When Naomi didn’t know what else to do or where else to turn, she went to the one place that’s safe. Her sweet spot. Her roots: Bethlehem. Ruth decided to stay by her side regardless of the differences between their backgrounds. She voiced the same phrase that echoes the promise God made to the Isrealites hundreds of years before: “Where you go, I go, where you stay, I stay. Your God will be my God, your people, my people.” 

But now what? Two widowed women, without hope and help. Ruth went to work. She worked in the fields; she gathered food for herself and Naomi. It was here that Boaz saw her. The same Boaz, son of Rahab that we saw yesterday. Boaz was a perfect match for Ruth, a man who traditionally could have married Ruth and saved them from fending for themselves. But he wasn’t making a move. So Ruth did. The pressure of providing for her mother-in-law, for securing their future, it was a lot--overwhelming. But it was her perseverance that won Boaz over. And ultimately, it was their child that would continue the line of Christ. It was through this unlikely love story that we see that love actually is the true motivator at Christmas. It is what motivates women to carry the present at Christmas. It is what motivates them to heal relationships, put others before themselves, and create and keep beautiful, Christmas traditions. 

This year, you have the same presence of love that motivated Ruth inside of you. When you feel like it is just “too much,” remember that you are bringing the gift of joy and love this Christmas. Stop, take a breath, choose to rest in that presence of Jesus, and my dear, in that rest, you’re bringing the present.