Naomi’s deceased husband, Elimelech, had a very wealthy relative, an honorable and prominent man in Bethlehem named Boaz. One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain. Maybe someone will be kind enough to let me gather the grain he leaves behind.” Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.” So Ruth went to the fields to gather the grain the reapers left behind. It just so happened that she found herself working at the edges of a field belonging to Boaz of the family of Elimelech.
— Ruth 2:1-3
God told the reapers not to cut the wheat at the corners as they made a turn. That was left for women like Ruth and Naomi, the poor who had nothing. Naomi explained this to Ruth and said, “We are the poor who are mentioned by God. We follow the harvesters and pick up what is dropped”. She didn’t tell her to go, but she told her the custom. Then Ruth said, “I want to do this. Please let me go”.
Not knowing the fields or exactly how to do this, Ruth follows the women in front of her. And the scripture said, she “happened”. She had no strategy or plan. She just started in a field doing what the others were doing. She crossed the boundary and found herself in another field. One could say “coincidence” because it was an accident. She didn’t plan it but she found herself in the fields of Boaz. However, with God there are no coincidences.
Boaz was a very rich relative of Naomi, perhaps even a younger brother to Elimelech. He was a godly man whom everybody respected. He asked who this new woman was and found out she was with Naomi, looking after her. Boaz thought, “I’ve heard good things about her”. He said to Ruth, “Don’t go wandering off; we will look after you. Come sit with us and share our food. Drink from our water fountain when you get thirsty”. Then he turned to his employees and said, “Be sure you drop a lot for her”.
The God of love reveals Himself, not only to save us for heaven but to save us in this life. Ruth went out trusting in the simple words of the Covenant Lord, trusting in the fact that He loved her and loved Naomi who sat in the pit of depression. Ruth got up every morning joyful and expectant. You have two attitudes here. Ruth’s attitude was her simple trust in what the Covenant God said and who He revealed Himself to be. She expected, in childlike simplicity, that God would come through.
Let this story speak to you. Walk out and trust that Love is behind you, ahead of you, around you. Anticipate His favor in small details. Could it get any smaller than this, seeing a woman on her hands and knees picking up heads of corn and barley for her sack? There the Lord was with her. Ruth is bathing in the love of God, His favor and blessing while the others are arguing among themselves forgetting that God has any interest in what is happening. But He is interested. He is always, always interested in you!“
“Don’t define the love of God through circumstances, define circumstances through the love of God.”
Define God Based On Who He Is – Love