God of the Ordinary: A Study in RuthSample

GOD OF THE ORDINARY

“So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.” RUTH 1:22 (ESV)

On any morning, as you read, watch, or listen to the news, do you ever think you are very small? Do you ever wonder, “Does God really know who I am or where I am? What interest would He, the Creator of everything, have in me?”

You and I are very ordinary—and we can easily believe that “ordinary” equates to “useless.” Yet Ruth and Naomi’s story reveals something different. In it, we discover the sovereign, providential hand of God working in and through life’s routines. He knows, and He cares, He sustains, and He provides.

The book of Ruth’s account of God’s provision and care begins with a mistake. Elimelech decided to leave famished Bethlehem for prospering Moab with his wife Naomi and their two sons—but he and his sons died there.

Whether Elimelech’s motive was desperation, discontent, or distrust, Scripture illustrates through his choice that our foolishness cannot set aside God’s providence. Even when we respond to circumstances with the wrong spirit—when figuratively we take ourselves up and out of the land of God’s promise—He can still accomplish His purposes. When we are tempted to fear that God has overlooked our lives because of our mistakes, we can rest in His providence, which can work through our biggest—or smallest—missteps.

Have you seen God move in life’s ordinary moments? Have you seen Him at work through your mistakes? Or are you caught in the lie that God only operates in spectacular, extraordinary ways or through our moments of greatest obedience? When we look only for the extraordinary, we miss God’s glory in the ordinary—in a bowl of apples on the table, a well-prepared meal, a bird singing, a conversation with a friend, the moon shining through a cloudy night sky. When we assume God only works when we are good, we miss God’s grace in working through sinners—through a conversation about Christ with a neighbor, a parent’s repentance to a child after they have spoken impatiently to them, a prayer prayed for someone because anxiety has kept us from sleep. For Ruth and Naomi, the very sight of a barley field, ripe for the harvest, was in one sense a very ordinary view— but it declared God’s provision to them. Mistakes had been made, and griefs had been borne, but the barley harvest showed that God knows, cares, sustains, and provides.

God has not changed. Although He has the whole universe to care for, He turns His gaze on you and me, saying, I know you. Your name is written on the palm of My hand. And as surely as I cared for Naomi and Ruth, I’m looking after you too (see Isaiah 49:16). God is sustaining and guiding His children. Let that knowledge comfort your heart and bring you peace today—however ordinary the day may be.

• How is God calling me to think differently?
• How is God reordering my heart’s affections—what I love?
• What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

Further Reading: PSALM 139