Grace: God's Providence in the Ordinary
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever had one of those days where you step out in hope but with no guarantees? Maybe it’s job hunting. Maybe it’s waiting on a visa decision. Maybe it’s just trusting God to make ends meet this month. You pray, then hustle. You try again. And again.
You don’t know how it’s going to work—but you believe God can make a way. That’s exactly where we meet Ruth today. She’s a young widow, broke, foreign, and responsible for her mother-in-law. No job security, no protections. Just a quiet hope that somehow, someone might show her favor.
And that’s exactly what she finds - not luck, not coincidence—but grace.
Our passage for today reminds us that God is not only found in the miraculous but also in the mundane. In the hustle of daily life. In character. In provision. In the quiet turning points of obedience.
And so Ruth goes out. Not with a guarantee, but with a willingness to trust God in the grind. And it’s in that ordinary act of obedience that we begin to see the extraordinary hand of God.
There are three movements I want us to notice in Ruth’s story.
From Need to Provision
From Faithfulness to Favor
From Scarcity to Abundance
Let me pray asking for God’s blessing and we’ll walk through Ruth 2 together.
From Need to Provision – 2:1-7
From Need to Provision – 2:1-7
Let’s start by reading Ruth 2:1-7.
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.
Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”
“The Lord bless you,” they replied.
Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”
The chapter opens with our introduction to a new character named Boaz. We’re told Boaz is a relative of Naomi’s husband and a prominent man of noble character. A man with wealth and a love for God; a man of every woman’s dream.
One thing we are told repeatedly about Boaz is that he is from Elimelech’s family. We’re told three times in the first three verses and one more at the end. That bit of information sets the stage for what comes in chapter three.
In 2:2-7, we see Ruth’s recognition of grace. We see her recognize that grace is needed for their provision.
As Christians we know this truth maybe even better than Ruth. We are living embodiments of what it means to depend on grace. Our salvation is by grace and our sustenance is by grace.
Ruth and Naomi are now living a life of poverty in Bethlehem. We know they’re in poverty because of Ruth’s request to go into the fields to gather grain behind someone. In our modern vernacular, she’s going out to be a beggar.
In the early days of Israel as a nation, God gave instructions on caring for the poor and the immigrant or sojourner. In Leviticus 19:9-10, God said “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, 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.”
The God of the bible is God of the poor. But you wouldn’t know that with the way poverty is sometimes talked about in Christian churches today.
God is telling Israel to think of the poor—and to be generous with what He has given them.
Notice he didn’t say how big of a harvest you must reap for you to leave some behind for the poor and sojourner. No matter our level of wealth, God wants us to prioritize generosity.
God commanded generosity—but like us, many likely ignored it with a thousand excuses.
Ruth asks Naomi if she may go out and see if God will provide.
Given the reality of non-compliance and her status as a foreign woman, Ruth knows it is only by grace that she would find the right field that would be accommodating of her.
Accommodating in not only letting her gather grain but also in not sexually abusing her.
She didn’t know what the day would bring, but she knew grace would have to carry her through it.
Can I encourage you this morning? Don’t downplay God’s grace. It’s why you have what you have—and why you’re where you are.
We see in 2:3 that she happened to be in Boaz's field. We’re told that by chance, or by luck she just landed on the field belonging to Boaz. It might seem like that in the moment, but in the grand scheme of the story, we know it’s not luck or chance, but God’s providence.
God was at work using ordinary means of Godly character to bring about his grace.
It’s no coincidence that Boaz’s servants were the ones who allowed her to enter their field. Boaz’s godly character sets the culture for his servants.
It is possible that Boaz’s field was not the first field she visited. She might have gone from field to field asking the harvesters if she might gather the fallen grains only to be told no.
But when she got to Boaz’s field and asked his servants in 2:7, they said yes.
You might have been going from interview to interview, application to application, doctor to doctor and all you’re getting is nos. Or at least a lack of provision for your need.
Church, the experience of grace is not merely in the yes we receive but it is also in the nos. With some perseverance and faith, the yes will come.
The no's might be discouraging in the moment, but the arrival of the yes will be much sweeter than the discouragement of the nos.
You might be tired of receiving no's but stay the course; you might be tired of not having your provision met but stay the course. Keep going – because God uses perseverance to bring the yes.
Ruth got her yes. But as she would soon find out, she got a whole lot more than a yes.
Her faithfulness laid the groundwork for favor.
From Faithfulness to Favor – 2:8-13
From Faithfulness to Favor – 2:8-13
In Ruth 2:8-13, we see what I call character produced grace. Let’s read together.
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
She fell facedown, bowed to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. May the Lord reward you for what you have done, and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”
“My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
We sometimes experience favor because of a miraculous intervention, but often our experience of favor takes place through the ordinary means of our character.
What we see in this section of our passage is that your character will speak for you before you open your mouth; your godliness will travel ahead of you to make a way.
It can be easy for us over-spiritualize our Christian experience. It can be easy for us to focus on our relationship with God while we ignore our relationship with people.
Boaz has heard the rumors of Ruth’s loyalty to Noami and to God. Not only has he heard it, he has also just seen it with his own eyes.
A hard-working foreign woman. A proverbs 31 woman in the flesh.
Boaz had no choice but to be the means by which God will bestow his favor upon Ruth and Naomi. He had no choice but to be the instrument of God’s grace in their turning point.
Why? Because character recognizes character. Godliness recognizes godliness. Faithfulness recognizes faithfulness.
When your character speaks for you, those whom God has appointed to be his instrument of grace to you will have no choice.
Boaz told her she doesn’t need to beg anymore. She can come straight to his field every day.
He not only provided for Ruth, but he also protected her. It’s dangerous being a poor foreign woman.
You are at risk of sexual exploitation. Even in our country today, poor foreign women are still being exploited. It happens in sex trafficking, prostitution, and labor trafficking.
Boaz ensured that would never happen to Ruth on his field.
He didn’t just give Ruth bread and protection—he quenched her thirst too.
Is Boaz starting to paint a picture for you of someone who would come thousands of years later to give himself as the bread of life, to quench every thirst with living water, and offer protection from our greatest enemy?
The favor she prayed for has been answered but with more than she expected. She just wanted a field to gather a few grains. Now she’s got a permanent field with luxury treatment.
She’s so surprised that she asks Boaz in 2:10, “Why have I found favor with you?” To which Boaz replied, “I heard about you and how great of a woman you are. I heard about your love for Jesus and how you’re faithful to him through the highs and the lows. I heard about your humility and godliness. I heard about your heart of generosity and selflessness. You are a God-fearing woman in words and action.”
Boaz then prayed for her that God will reward her for her sacrifice. I want us to pay attention to something important in this narrative. In chapter 1, Naomi prayed for Ruth and Orpah and that was all she had. In chapter 2, Boaz prays for Ruth, but he also has the means to be the answer to his prayer and that’s exactly what he did.
We must be careful not to be Christians who are generous with their prayers but stingy with their stuff. That is what James warns against in James 2:14-18 when he wrote
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?
If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.
Like Boaz, we are meant to be God’s instrument of grace, meeting needs of those with none.
Ruth was comforted and encouraged in 2:13. She’s been through hell and back and now she’s experiencing paradise. She’s appreciative of the mountain top because she knows what the valley feels like.
She did nothing to earn this grace but it was nonetheless experienced because of her character.
But God’s grace doesn’t stop with just a kind word or a temporary gift. When grace is at work, it leads to something far greater than a one-time blessing—it opens the door to a whole new reality.
From Scarcity to Abundance – 2:14-23
From Scarcity to Abundance – 2:14-23
Let’s look at Ruth 2:14-23.
At mealtime Boaz told her, “Come over here and have some bread and dip it in the vinegar sauce.” So she sat beside the harvesters, and he offered her roasted grain. She ate and was satisfied and had some left over.
When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her even gather grain among the bundles, and don’t humiliate her. Pull out some stalks from the bundles for her and leave them for her to gather. Don’t rebuke her.” So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. She beat out what she had gathered, and it was about twenty-six quarts of barley. She picked up the grain and went into the town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She brought out what she had left over from her meal and gave it to her.
Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you gather barley today, and where did you work? May the Lord bless the man who noticed you.”
Ruth told her mother-in-law whom she had worked with and said, “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz.”
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May the Lord bless him because he has not abandoned his kindness to the living or the dead.” Naomi continued, “The man is a close relative. He is one of our family redeemers.”
Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also told me, ‘Stay with my young men until they have finished all of my harvest.’ ”
So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “My daughter, it is good for you to work with his female servants, so that nothing will happen to you in another field.” Ruth stayed close to Boaz’s female servants and gathered grain until the barley and the wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
If nothing else happens to Ruth beyond what we read in this chapter, her life has already changed for the better. A life of poverty is now a life of abundance.
Beyond Boaz’s offer of daily bread, protection, and quenching her daily thirst, he invites her to have dinner with him and his servants. He honored her as though she was one of his kind.
Be careful treating people differently because of where they’re from. Judge people by the quality of their character not the color of their skin or the language they speak.
Here’s how Ruth’s life changed. She would no longer gather the grains that fell while harvesting was going on, she would now gather from what the harvesters had harvested.
She left that day alone with 26 quarts of barley. That is 10 days' worth of food! Now imagine that happening every day for the rest of the harvest season?
She came empty handed and stricken by poverty, she left full in abundance. God is changing Naomi’s story and he is using Ruth’s faithfulness.
Naomi left Bethlehem full and came back empty. Ruth left Bethlehem empty and came back full.
Can you imagine Naomi’s face when Ruth walks through the door with a fully cooked dinner and 10 days’ worth of groceries?
God had visited Naomi and Ruth and changed their story. Ruth didn’t just eat. Naomi ate too.
That’s what grace does. It changes everything.
Grace turned us from rebels into followers. Grace washed our sin-stained garments and made them white as snow. Grace brings us before the throne—boldly, not timidly. And grace reminds us: we are not condemned, but made righteous by the finished work of Christ.
Some of you are thankful that grace saved you—but maybe today, what you need is grace to sustain you. You need God to show up—just like He did for Ruth
I wish I could tell you exactly when your time will come. I can’t. But what I can tell you is that if you would stay faithful to your God, if you would continue to pursue righteousness and godliness, if you continue to cherish integrity, and perseverance, if you continue to hold dear humility and generosity, the God of Ruth and Naomi will use all of it for your good and for your turning point.
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we wrap up, little did Ruth and Naomi know —this was just the beginning. Grace wasn’t done yet.
What started as a search for scraps ended with a feast. Ruth walked into that field hoping to survive—but she walked out changed. And that’s what grace does. It meets us in the mundane, moves through our character, and multiplies more than we could ever expect.
In her need, grace provided.
In her faithfulness, grace honored.
In her scarcity, grace overflowed.
So, what do we do with a story like this?
We resolve to have a renewed commitment to rely on God’s favor and grace.
We resolve to step in faith even in the uncertainties of life.
We resolve by God’s grace to be a person of godly character who pursues faithfulness.
God’s providence doesn’t cancel our character—it works through it
Stay faithful to God and pay close attention to your life. God is at work.
Benediction
Benediction
“May the God of Ruth and Naomi—the God of quiet turnarounds and unlikely favor—walk with you this week. May His grace meet you in the grind, and may your story echo His goodness.”
