Finding Safety in God's Care, the Story of Ruthنموونە

God’s guidance

“So she [Ruth] set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.” (Ruth 2:1-3)

As a foreigner who had recently come to Israel, Ruth knew no one in Bethlehem. Therefore, when she went to gather the wheat in a field, she had no idea who the owner of the field was. But the narrator gives us this information: she ends up in the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelech, Ruth's late father-in-law. This fact will later prove crucial to the development of the story. God is already at work here, although Ruth has no idea.

This happens often, in our lives as well. Sometimes we have an accidental encounter with somebody. Sometimes things happen at just the right time. Sometimes you only see years later how different events have come together in amazing ways. As a child of God, you may know that behind this ‘coincidence’ is God's guidance. This can be very natural and unremarkable, as here with Ruth or also in the book of Esther, where the Lord saves the people of Israel from destruction by intervening very subtly. To unbelievers, this seems like a coincidence. Christians know that God leads them.

Do you believe that too? Do you trust the Lord to direct all things?