God's Providence

Today’s message is about the working of God in our lives, focused truly on the work God does even when we can not see or understand.

I pray today that our walk through Ch.2 of Ruth will show you a few things about God Providence

Providence follows Loyalty - we discussed this two weeks ago in our message on loyalty

God’s true plans are NEVER thwarted by anything on this earth or in heaven

God is always in control

We are called and encouraged to live our lives with trust in God

- Knowing that He loves, cares and provides according to His nature

God’s provision will lead you to the place that He intended

We should always yield our present circumstances to God — we should never fear the world for He is in full and complete control.

Image with me a few minutes if we were walking along side Naomi and Ruth

We don’t have the option to read the whole story ahead of time and see the outcome

What would you believe about Ruth?

Her loyalty is above comparison

She leaves her home land to travel with her mother in law to a land of Jews

She stands by not knowing any of the future

I can imagine she had doubts and was scared and feared the unknown - I just want to whisper to her I know the end of the story and it is amazing --- good advise for us today

The sad circumstances that you are in are hard —stay strong - God is working in the background

Imagine — famine, death of loved ones, no promise of another husband or provider - just two women in a strange land

Long travel alone just two women seeking a better life

Being hungry not knowing when food would be available — no man to provide - she is the only one to provide for her and Naomi

Learning that long day picking up scraps is the daily life for the foreseeable future — probably not a smile producing circumstance

Poor Ruth — a sad life at present

She know that she must accept charity to survive --- I have never really been in that place — food is NOT guaranteed

YET we have the ability to see the whole BOOK of RUTH and we know the amazing story that it tells — but to Ruth reality is present time

This is our message today

--- God provides and has an amazing plan for all of us —

we are in the present also —

we tend to see only what is around us daily and must work to trust that God will bring good to us to....

God is always working behind the scenes.

Naomi Guides Ruth To Boaz: 1-2

Lets open our Bibles to Ch 2 of Ruth and walk through the verses together

Naomi and Ruth are likely sitting together in the early morning, talking about food and life for today.

Naomi likely explains to Ruth about the harvest and the provision of the Jewish culture to provide

This was part of Jewish Law it is part of the Levitical Law

LEV 19:9-10 ““When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

Naomi is likely teaching Ruth about the ways of the Jewish people

Look at verse Ruth 2:2 “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.””

Naomi gives Ruth the blessing to GO

Naomi tells Ruth to about Boaz, a relative of the family

Our hero has arrived in the story.

Gleaning the Fields: 3

Gleaning the fields

According to the Book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, farmers should leave the edges of their fields unharvested (pe'ah), should not pick up that which was dropped (gleanings), and should not harvest any over-looked produce that had been forgotten when they harvested the majority of a field.

This was a way for God to provide for the poor and allow charity.

God produced the harvest

The farmer would reap the reward and tithe to the Temple

and the needy would be able to have food

I can find no record that during this time in history any of the other cultures provided like this for their community.

it is also notable that the charity involved work to receive it, which may be a message for another time about our culture today.

as a Christian today we are to be givers

this concept is a message that is relevant today.

Enjoy your harvest, but leave allowance for others

God Guides Ruth: 3

Our story of Ruth is going to change here in Ch 2, we will move from Naomi and to Ruth as the main person and focus

Naomi gives the blessing and now Ruth will take the stage.

Lets look at the word HAPPENED in verse 3

DID It just happen?

or is this God’s providence

We need to be reminded again that God has a planned and it is always organized to lead to HIS PURPOSE.

God is never the God of change or reaction.

God has a plan

Ruth is lead by God’s provision to the FIELDS that belong to BOAZ --- the exact person that Naomi had introduced to her earlier in the morning.

How many times to we miss the “chance” happenings in our lives?

Carpe Diem — Seize the day --- Seize the opportunities

Remember when Paul prayed for us in Ephesians to have the eyes of our hearts open. this is part of what he was praying for ....

Keep our Chrisitan hearts open for opportunities, do not ever be disheartened for GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL.

ILLUSTRATION:

on vacation I read a few books and one of them was called Bruchko --- about a missionary that brought Christ to a tribe in the rain forest. The whole story is about the missionary learning to see God working --- speared in the leg and barely surviving and coming back to the tribe again but this time ONE man takes an interest and brings him in to talk --- the missionary sees an opportunity with banana leafs to introduce the Bible and then circumstance after circumstance Jesus is revealed to the whole tribe.

The point is this is not a story about the ancient bible times or even the 1960 with this missionary BUT a story that has effect on our life today.

Boaz and the Reapers: 4-7

Boaz appears for the first time in our series

Boaz is a man of God look at verse 4 --- Boaz is a man that understands that God is foremost.

His greeting to his workers “The Lord be with you” and his workers know God — The Lord bless you.

We need to see that this is a GOD SITUATION — GOD IS WORKING

All the people that morning

and BOAZ notices RUTH

BOAZ knows of RUTH

and this is good for had this event not happened at this place at this time Boaz may have been RUTHLESS

this is another GOD moment.

God directing the eyes of HIS PEOPLE

Boaz Protection 8-13

Verses 8-13

Boaz goes to Ruth and blesses her

offers protection

offers provision

offers connection

Look at the next few verses especially 10

you can feel the relief in Ruth

She falls on her face --- you can almost feel her emotions open and the warmth of love enter

Ruth has been doing all the right things, but not getting great results

BUT right here we can feel with Ruth that BLESSING - That Relief -

That love that was likely distance to Ruth for many years

Oh how we want that in our own lives in times of struggle.

Christ lives in us. Christ is always there. Christ always obeys the Father and works for HIS purpose.

Our times may be low at times, but GOD will bring it all to GOOD

We must believe that

We must live that out every day.

Boaz: God and Family 14-15

We see in verse 14-15 that Boaz GOES even further in his blessing

This is not simply providing food

Providing protection for Ruth

But now he is offering fellowship

Gosh I pray that I am making the pathway to Jesus clear for all of us today.

We have all had times of bitterness, experienced loyalty, been moved to a place that is not the place that we want to be

We have all been sad, hurt, tear-filled, and have felt there is no hope

that this new time in our life is our new normal

BUT TAKE HEART

Christ is here

Christ just “happens” to lead us to a new place

a negative becomes a positive and changes our life.

We have lost a loved one, but reconnected with another

We have felt alone, and we get a cheerful call

Remember my dear loved ones GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING

Redeemer

The end of chapter two is setting up our December messages

Before we go look at verse 20

Ruth 2:20 “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.””

Naomi states a blessing for Boaz --- for his kindness — Naomi

Let this word be in your mediations, your time for Christ this week

One WORD REDEEMER

Lets pray.