Our Lord is always at work

27Feb
At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, ‘Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.’ 

So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied.Her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.’ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ Naomi also said to her, ‘The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.’ Then Ruth the Moabite said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.” ’Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, ‘It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.’ So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
 -Ruth 2:14-23


I was studying up on Ruth for today’s meditation and learned that she was King David’s grandmother. I’m not sure how I missed this in my decades of bible study and readings. But this little genealogy fact has changed the whole story for me. It serves to reinforce one of the great messages of our faith at a time when I personally need it: God can take a tragedy and through Faith and Hope, turn it into something miraculous. Also, God really loves to use the most unassuming characters as the leads in his narrative. 


Ruth is a widowed Moabite, not even a Jew, who stubbornly accompanies her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to her homeland. “Where you go, I will go.” Naomi has lost everything - her husband and her sons. Without any male next-of-kin to claim her, Naomi is essentially destitute. But Ruth’s faith and righteousness prevail. Her dedication to Naomi wins her favor in the community. Her beauty and industriousness wins her the admiration of Boaz, a wealthy and honorable relative. Through a little midnight manipulation of Boaz’s sleeping bag, Ruth secures his promise of marriage and protection. She and Naomi are redeemed.


There are so many instances in this story where the narrative could have flipped and gone horribly awry. Naomi and Ruth might have been assaulted on their journey from Moab to Bethlehem. While gleaning for food, Ruth might have been assaulted and “dishonored” by less virtuous men. Had Boaz not been such an upstanding man of faith, he might have taken advantage of Ruth’s position, leaving her and Naomi even more destitute. But none of these things happened. The story instead unfolds exactly, it seems, as God intended. 


Ruth marries Boaz, they have a son, Obed. And Naomi’s song of agony in verse 1 (I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty…the Almighty has brought calamity upon me!) turns into one of joy (Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin…He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age). Obed becomes the father of Jesse and Jesse, of course, is the father of David. 

So from Naomi’s personal disaster comes the young, poet-shepherd King. From a poor migrant widow of the wrong religion, comes David and, many generations later, the True King, Jesus. Our Lord is always at work in ways our myopic vision could never see. 


Musical Reflection - Have a Little Faith in Me - Tedeschi Trucks w/ Norah Jones


Dear Lord, help us to not loose faith during times of hardship. Just as you sent Ruth to Naomi, allow us to see the help you have sent us in hard times, be it a daughter-in-law, a friend, a fellow church member, or stranger. Lift up those, Like Boaz, who serve you and show loving-kindness and mercy. And when blessings come, especially after trials, help us to remember to offer you praise and thanksgiving. In your name we pray, Amen. 

FaithBible StudyOld Testament

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