Ruth was a vulnerable, impoverished young widow in a field full of burly workmen, with good reason to be intimidated by the wealth and influence of their big boss, Boaz. But no matter whom she encountered, whether great or small, she was always just herself.
Selections from Ruth 2:10-12 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
[Ruth] fell on her face, bowed to the ground, and asked [Boaz], "Why are you so kind to notice me, although I am a foreigner?"
Boaz answered her, "Everything you've done for your mother-in- law since your husband's death has been fully reported to me. You left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and you came to a people you didn't previously know. May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge."
Look At It This Way
Ruth's story seems like one long string of coincidences. She just happened to be going out to glean one day, and just happened to find herself on Boaz's land, who just happened to have heard of Ruth's troubles and of her kindness to Naomi - and who just happened to be a rich relative with the power to change Ruth's whole lot in life. If you were to ask her why she chose Boaz's grain field, she'd just say that she liked the look of it. But something tells you that God was in the coincidence.
Qualities such as availability, simplicity, and unaffectedness are difficult to come by. Fear makes us pre-tend, masquerade, play our people games, or flirt with insincerity. But God seeks honest hearts. He longs to deliver us from anything less than genuine or anything flavored by the cynical. This prideful attitude hamstrings our ability to move into the fresh and the new . . . and grieves the Spirit of God.
Who says you know what's next for your life? Who says God can't use you in a dramatic, wholly unexpected way? Who says he can't lead you into a season of life and ministry beyond anything you've ever experienced - or even dreamed? Just who is the limiting factor here? Is it God?
Or are we capable of closing our hearts to what he wants to do in and through our lives? Ruth is as simple and honest as a field lily, as open-hearted as a child. It is a spiritual beauty we can all learn from. No wonder Boaz lost his heart in the barley field that spring morning! Ruth had prepared herself to step out in faith and see what this God of Israel had to offer.
- Jack Hayford
Final Thought
Being yourself is still the best way to keep your emotions in balance, your perspective intact, your relationships honest - and to keep the keys to your heart in the hands of God.
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