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Written by Alina Stout, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
I didn’t realize how much I needed Iron Rose Sisters in my life. I didn’t realize how much strength, encouragement, truth, faith, and love would be a part of a relationship with an Iron Rose Sister. I didn’t realize how important Iron Rose Sisters would become to me until I realized that God gave me these sisters in Christ as a spiritual lifeline who help me stay connected to Him. What’s more, part of my realization is that God has given me as an Iron Rose Sister to others in order to help them stay connected to God, as well.
There are many types of seasons involving changes and challenges, and we all go through them in one way or another. I have found myself in one of those seasons as I am recently married, currently student-teaching, nearing graduation, and anticipating moving. I have found that more often than not, either my most difficult day of the week or my best day of the week “happens” to be the day of the week that I meet with my Iron Rose Sisters. This means that my challenges swell on the day that I have an opportunity to cry with women who love me, to listen to women who fill me with God’s truth, and to be prayed over by women who are prayer warriors. I have watched, again and again, how God has directly answered and even promptly answered the prayers of my Iron Rose Sisters. On my best days, I can share my strength and peace of mind with my Iron Rose Sisters who are struggling. I have a chance to listen to them, to cry with them, to offer hope to them, and to pray over them. This mutual relationship is truly a tremendous blessing from God.
The commitment we can make to our sisters in Christ reminds me of the commitment that Ruth made to Naomi. Ruth and Orpah were Moabites who married into an Israelite family who were living in Moab during a famine in Israel. They experienced with their mother-in-law, Naomi, a season of change and challenge when they all lost their husbands and were forced to find a way, as women, to provide without having other family around. Both Ruth and Orpah were an incredible support to Naomi while she was separated from her relatives. When the famine was receding and Naomi could finally return home to Bethlehem, she told her daughters-in-law that they could return to their own homes in Moab. After much convincing, Orpah did leave. But what about Ruth? Ruth “clung” to Naomi (Ruth 1:14, NIV). She not only clung to her physically, but also chose to cling to Naomi for life. She chose Naomi’s homeland as her own. She chose Naomi’s will as her own. She chose Naomi’s family as her own. And, she chose Naomi’s God as her own.
When we cling to our sisters in Christ, the family we are choosing as our own is the family of God. The homeland that we are choosing is the kingdom of God. The will that we are choosing is the will of God. The life we are choosing is the good life that comes from being a part of God’s family. When we cling to our Iron Rose Sisters, we are choosing to keep each other near to the refuge of God.
Being committed to another sister in Christ is a commitment that God loves and blesses. After all, loving others this deeply is close to God’s heart! Boaz, a man of God and kin to Naomi, noticed Ruth and her incredible support of Naomi. Boaz spoke a prayer of blessing to Ruth, saying: “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” (Ruth 2:12, NIV). The women of Bethlehem were amazed by Ruth as well. They recognized Ruth for her love for Naomi and considered her to be better to Naomi than seven sons! In a day where sons carried the family name, this speaks of a huge impact that Ruth had on Naomi’s life! (Ruth 4:15, NIV).
Now, we must not overlook that Ruth’s support for Naomi was mutual! While Ruth was caring for Naomi, Naomi found a way to care for Ruth by finding Ruth a home where she would be loved and well-provided for through Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. Ruth, after all, was facing her own struggles as a widowed woman.
Our relationships with our Iron Rose Sisters are mutual relationships of love and care. We face our own challenges, and through it all we depend on each other. We pour into each other. We bring each other back to God. We cling to each other through the ups and downs of life, and God blesses our commitment to each other in incredible ways.
What are some ways that you have seen God bless your relationships with your Iron Rose Sisters?
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Written by Michelle J. Goff, Director of Iron Rose Sister Ministries
“I was always a sucker for foreign accents. But Mahlon’s accent was different. And his family was different. I had only met a few Israelites prior to his family’s arrival in my hometown and none had settled there. My unfamiliarity with Israelites, other than the fearful tales of their powerful God, became apparent the more I got to know the family.
I had met them in the village shortly after their arrival and began a friendship with Mahlon’s mother, Naomi, since we frequented the same market. They had come to Moab for a time while a famine ravaged Israel.
Elimelek and Naomi spoke often of the god of Israel. Jehovah, they called him. They recounted stories of him saving his people from slavery under the Egyptians and separating the Red Sea so they could cross on dry land. Every story I heard of their God’s provision and power fascinated me more and more about Jehovah God and drew me closer to this Israelite family.
As a result of our budding relationship, I was saddened with them when Elimelek died suddenly and unexpectedly. Naomi’s and my friendship grew even more with his passing. I had never lost anyone in my immediate family, but to see her pain, walk with her through that time of pain, so far from home… It was an honor to join with her in that time of grief…”
Have you ever inserted yourself into a Bible story in such a way that you imagine how someone might have felt? What they were thinking? It is a moment to “walk in their dusty sandals” and discover some of the depth of the relational truths behind the scenes of the stories of the Bible.
The teaser written above, from Ruth’s perspective, is the beginning of the ePetal study, Iron Rose Sisters: A deeper look at Ruth and Naomi. I take some creative license at the beginning of the study, presenting a plausible monologue from Ruth. Then, we dive into the four-chapter book of the Old Testament in order to reflect on the story of the relationships found there.
I invite you to read the ePetal study and invite a friend to read it with you! It is a single lesson from the book of Ruth, inviting Christian sisters to serve as Iron Rose Sisters—iron sharpening iron while encouraging each other to be as beautiful as a rose, in spite of a few thorns. Ruth and Naomi took turns being Iron Rose Sisters for each other, just as we go through seasons in which we need our Iron Rose Sisters to lean on. And after God rebuilds that strength in Him, through those women, we are able to be the hands, feet, ears, and shoulders of God for them.
Aside from the one-another relational elements in the book of Ruth, we hear the story of King David’s great-great grandparents. And when we connect this story to the big picture story of the Bible, we remember that God loves and recognizes foreigners and women, even mentioning them by name in the genealogy of His Son (Matt. 1:5).
It is a story of redemption with Boaz foreshadowing the way in which Christ buys us back as a kinsman redeemer, elevating us from a place of bitterness and loss to a place of joy and hope!
Yet this redemption would not have been possible if Ruth had not maintained her commitment to Naomi and to God.
The monologue in the ePetal study concludes the narrative of Ruth 1 in this way:
“A third attempt to convince me to return home was imminent; therefore I carefully prepared my words in response to Naomi’s forthcoming arguments. ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’
She was finally convinced of my determination to stay with her, which allowed us to continue on our way. We had already been through so much together. I was fully committed to our relationship. And while the road we traversed carried us to Bethlehem, the journey we commenced when our friendship began left much to be seen and experienced.
Early on, I had no idea the ways in which Jehovah God, who I also now serve, would use me, His humble servant Ruth, as His instrument to bless Naomi and her family. I never imagined that I would be included in the lineage of Christ, and be abundantly blessed by a life dedicated to Him.”
Is there an Iron Rose Sister with whom you can make a commitment to walk with each other as you each walk with God? How have you seen God bless a relationship like that in the past? Or what hope do you hold for an Iron Rose Sister relationship in the future?