Where Is God In All Of This? | Ruth: The Road To Redemption, Part 2

Ruth: The Road to Redemption, pt 2 – “Where is God in all of this?”

Proverbs 16:25

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

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Ruth 1:20

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi (pleasant); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has  

dealt very bitterly with me.

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Ruth 1:22

And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

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Most of us have a “chapter 1 story”…

Loss of a job

Received a difficult diagnosis

Family/friendship conflict

Financial pressures 

Navigating career change

Uncertainty of what retirement might bring

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Where is God in all of this?

God is at work

Our circumstances tell us otherwise

You’re still stuck in chapter 1: “Uncertainty and Desperation”

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A pivotal moment in the story…

You can either trust in God’s providence & provision OR give in to despair because of present  

conditions?

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How can we trust that God is working when our circumstances say otherwise?

1. Recognize God’s providential care (and your human responsibility)

Ruth 2:1-3

Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was  

Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain  

after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she 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 goes out looking for favor, and God shows up in a field.

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Ruth believes God is at work, but she also knows she needs to get to work as part of receiving God’s favor.

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2. Look for God’s unseen work

Ruth 2:13-14, 17-20

Then she said, “I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken  

kindly to your servant, though I am not one of your servants.” 14 And at mealtime Boaz said to her,  

“Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and  

he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over…17  

So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about  

an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she  

had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.  

19 And 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 man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her  

daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the  

dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”

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“Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley.” (Ruth 2:17)

“The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” (Ruth 2:20)

“And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.”  

So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was  

satisfied, and she had some left over.” (Ruth 2:14)

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Application:

“She happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz”

“as it turned out…” “As luck would have it”

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“It just so happened”…

Reflection: How would your life be different if you believed that God was actively at work in your  

daily circumstances, even when your circumstances said seemed random or chaotic?

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Next Steps:

– Recognize God’s providential care

– Look out for God’s unseen (those it just so happened” moments)

– Share your story with others

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