It’s Never A Coincidence: A Journey Through Ruth 2
Author : Kaitlin Haines
What we learned from Ruth 1 :
Lament is Part of Life: It’s okay to grieve and to feel lost. Naomi shows us that it’s normal to experience pain and ask hard questions. God can handle our emotions.
God is Faithful in All Seasons: Even in seasons of loss and uncertainty, God’s faithfulness never fails. He’s always working, even when we don’t see it.
Decisions of Faith: Like Ruth, we’re sometimes faced with decisions that require faith over comfort. We can’t always see what’s ahead, but choosing to trust God in the unknown is where He does His best work.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where looking back on recent events everything just seemingly happened so timely? Everything fell right into place and you’re wondering how in the world that all happened? When you are in Christ, nothing good that happens to you is ever a coincidence. God’s hand is at work in our lives even when we can’t see it at the moment. Often, we look back after what has happened, and suddenly it all makes sense. Nothing is a coincidence.
Let’s dive into Ruth 2 and see what we can learn from Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz.
Setting the Scene: Ruth In Search For Food
In the beginning of chapter two, we find Ruth going to find some stalks of grain for them to provide for them. You can imagine that Ruth could have sat at home just praying for food and hoping the Lord would provide. But instead, she did her part and set out to find food, knowing that the Lord was going to lead her where she needed to go.
Journaling Question:
Have you ever been in a situation where you are in need of something and there are two options : pray for it or pray for it and set out to work for it? What did you do? Why do you think you handled it that way? There are many times in my own life where I want to just sit and wait. But sometimes, we have to partner with God by setting out to do the work alongside Him so that he can bless us.
God’s Invisible Hand At Work
When she set out to find grain to harvest, it says in verse 3 that she happened upon Boaz’s field. We know that it obviously wasn’t just a coincidence. It was God’s hand at work. If Ruth had chosen to stay at home and just continue waiting and praying and hoping, she might have delayed the blessing that was coming to her or even gone to the wrong field.
Ruth knows what she needs and she sets out to get it. How often do we sit and wait for a miraculous sign before we move to work for what we need? We want to see the hand of God at work in our lives BEFORE we step into what he’s calling us to. But yet, most of the time, we see God’s hand in our lives as we look back–when we can see the full picture. In looking ahead, we create problems for ourselves that can cloud our minds.
Journaling Question:
Think about a time when you were able to look back on your circumstances and see God’s hand in it. Was it clear during the refining process that His hand was there? God is teaching us here that he always has his hand in even the hardest of circumstances. That nothing is coincidence, and His plan is always greater than what we ourselves can imagine.
Boaz’s Kindness
We see in the following verses the character of Boaz. The main characteristic that stands out is His kindness. He wasn’t angry at Ruth for following behind his harvesters. He was welcoming to her, though she was a stranger from a different land. He saw something in her that another landowner may not have seen.
In Leviticus 19:9-10, we see that there is a command to farmers to “cut corners” in harvesting as a way to provide for the poor and needy. This proves Boaz’s relationship with the Lord and desire to abide by the law the He set into place. Not only that, it is a reflection of the Lord’s character. From the beginning, God wanted to provide for those with nothing, and made a way for people not to go hungry. The kindness of the Lord and Boaz bearing that fruit is a beautiful picture of how much He cares for His people.
Journaling Question:
Have you ever found yourself in a place where it felt like only the Lord could provide? And he used the kindness of other men or women of God to show that kindness? Boaz recognized her not as a foreigner, but as someone who God loved. He took her in, blessed her, and gave her immeasurably more, simply because he was a generous man of God. We should have the same heart posture with people–kind and generous–because the Lord cares for each person who walks this planet.
Boaz’s Blessing and Naomi’s Revelation
In the final verses of Ruth 2, Boaz allows Ruth to sit at their table eating and drinking, and sends her away with an entire basket of grain. It’s important to recognize that Boaz wanted to bless her, but she also worked hard. She didn’t sit around and she didn’t give up before the harvesters were done. She put in hard work that led her to be blessed.
God wants to bless us. It’s in His nature to be generous and kind. But we cannot sit around waiting for a blessing without doing the hard work of searching, gathering, and laboring through our seasons.
When Ruth returned home, Naomi was surprised at the amount of grain Ruth brought home. In that moment, we can assume that Naomi probably recognized that the bitterness of her life was finally coming to a close–that the Lord saw her and would be faithful to unfold a good plan for her life. So from then on out, Ruth continued working that field, reaping the harvest and providing for herself and Naomi.
Journaling Question:
Have you ever had the epiphany that Naomi had when Ruth returned home? When was the last time you thanked God for that answered prayer and blessing?
What Can We Learn from Ruth 2?
Here are a few key takeaways from Ruth and Namoi’s experience with Boaz:
We must partner with God: sometimes the answer isn’t praying and waiting. It’s setting out to do the work and allowing God to bless you through it.
God’s hand is always on our lives: When we are going through hard circumstances or even when things are good but seem to be stagnant, God is always there, guiding our steps and molding each moment according to His good plan.
Our trust and obedience leads to victory: Ruth set out to trust the Lord to provide. In return, she turned what could have been a defeating season into a victorious one through her willingness to obey His will.
Conclusion: God Is Present In The In-Between
Ruth and Naomi’s story reminds us that even in the in-between, God’s hand is at work in our lives. That even when we don’t feel Him or when we don’t feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, He is steadfast in his love, kindness, and generosity towards us. He wants good for us. And we must be willing to trust and obey His will, rather than falling prey to our anxious thoughts and the weight of our circumstances.