God of Circumstances

It is interesting to note that God is seldom mentioned in the book of Ruth. It is a story of hardship, tragedy, and ultimately restoration and realized hope. It is a story of ‘coincidences.’ After the death of her husband and sons, Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem. That makes sense. It was her home. Ruth decides to return with her, out of love and devotion. They return to Bethlehem, and Ruth begins to glean from the field of Boaz, who turns out to be her kinsman redeemer.

In the end Ruth marries Boaz and has children. Naomi is blessed beyond her expectations. But wait! There’s more. Boaz ends up being the great-grandfather of King David, and ultimately, he was in the line of Jesus, the Messiah.

All this happened through normal life decisions. There were no visions, or angels’ proclamations. God is never mentioned, but we can see God’s hand in it all. Do you think Naomi saw God’s hand when she was in Moab? No. She was bitter. Did Ruth see it while she was gleaning? No. She was just trying to survive. Did Boaz know that he would be in the line of the Messiah? No. He was just doing what was right according to the Law. Yet it was all part of God’s glorious plan of redemption.

You may look at your life, your normal day-to-day routine, and think you don’t matter. You’re just dealing with the humdrum of life. That’s probably the way Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz felt. But they were wrong. We will not know the effect our normal, sometimes boring, lives will have on this world. But one day we will. We are not unimportant to God, or unimportant in His plan. Our job is to do what is right, and walk humbly before our God. He’ll take care of the rest.