Bible Reading: Ruth 2; Acts 27; Jeremiah 37; Psalm 10
Ruth 2:3 And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
It just so happened that when Ruth went out to glean that she went to work in one of Boaz's fields. This is no chance coincidence; it is the providence of Almighty God. Just think of all the places where the poor widow woman could have chosen to work. After all, she knew none of the Bethlehemites. She just got up and went to work. But God had a plan. Isn't it a wonderful reality that as a child of God you walk through life according to his purpose?
God was doing something BIG. He was bringing his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world. It would be many generations yet to come, but God was going to use Boaz and Ruth to have a child who would be the grandfather of David. Then from David's family, God would bring Jesus into the world thorough a girl named Mary. Ruth did not know this when she put her trust in Jehovah and turned her back on the Moabite gods of her youth. All she knew was that she had found the one true and living God through her new family from Israel.
After her husband and father-in-law died, all Ruth knew was that she was going to stay with Naomi. When they returned to Bethlehem all Ruth knew was that she was going to help Naomi by gleaning in the harvest to provide some grain for them. So through worship and work, Ruth began walking in the path of God's plan for her. When she met Boaz, she had no idea that God's plan was for them to marry. All she knew was that she had met a godly and generous man who encouraged her to glean in his fields.
Can you imagine the joy of Naomi when Ruth returned with her gleanings and told her whose field she had 'happened' to work in that day?
Ruth 2:20 And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.
When you walk through life following Jesus you can expect that God will be leading you in his purposes. Some might think coincidences happen but you will know that it is the Holy Spirit leading you into paths of righteousness. Even when it seems that things are not going so well, you can trust that God is at work. Trust him and believe that he is leading you by His Spirit.
In Christ,
Rody
