As It Turned Out...

As I wrote yesterday, when you start taking first steps of faith, you open the door for good things in your life. You open the door for what what Steve May calls God-ordained coincidences. Those are the moments that initially seem to be a coincidence, but once you have the time and the perspective to look back on the events, you realize that the only way the events could have lined us was for God to be involved in it.

That’s what happened to Ruth. Ruth 2:3 says, “So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz...”  As it turned out? You can also translate this phrase as, “And so it happened,” or “As luck would have it...” The writer of Ruth used this phrase to emphasize that this is one of those coincidences that aren't really a coincidence.

When you take the first step, you also open the door to God bringing the right people into your life. It was because Ruth was willing to work in the field, a hard and dangerous task, that she met Boaz. Boaz owned the field where Ruth was gleaning. He showed up that morning, took one look at Ruth, and apparently, she became all he could think about.

Verses 5-9 state, “Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, "Whose young woman is that?" The foreman replied, ‘She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.'’She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.’ So Boaz said to Ruth, ‘My daughter, listen to me. Don't go and glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

Then we read in verses 14-16; “At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.’ When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, ‘Even if she gathers among the sheaves, don't embarrass her. Rather, pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don't rebuke her.”

Boaz' actions are affectionate and even...romantic. He goes out of his way to make sure she is provided for.

There are people out there who can be a blessing in your life, but they will never find you if you are hiding at home, hiding in your insecurities, hiding in your reticent personality. Take the first step. Take the initiative. Start moving in the direction of God’s blessings. That way, seemingly insignificant encounters can take on extraordinary significance, because God is behind them.

Taking A Step Of Faith

Ruth 2:2 tells us: “Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.’” Remember, the harvest was just beginning when Ruth and Naomi arrived back in Bethlehem from Moab, so the fields would have been full of reapers cutting down the stalks of wheat and tying them together. The Old Testament law declared that poor people could follow behind the paid workers and pick up whatever bit of wheat was left behind. The term was called gleaning. It was hard work. There was no salary involved. All you got was the wheat that you could pick up that was left on the ground.

Not only was it hard work, it was unsafe work for Ruth as well. She would be working in a field surrounded by transient workers who didn’t have a high regard for a woman anyway. Ruth was very vulnerable in this situation. It was hard and risky work. But it was what Ruth could do. So she took the first step. 

Many people, when they need something from God, think it is enough to “just pray”. Prayer is the most important thing we can do, but it is not the only thing we should do. If you want to experience God’s provision, you have to take the first step.

Gleaning wasn’t a permanent solution. Harvest would end eventually. It wasn’t ideal work. But it was something she could do at the time. Gleaning wasn’t an end to she and Naomi's financial problems, but it was a step in the right direction. And just as important, it was a step she could take. Sometimes you may need to do something that isn’t a permanent solution to your problem, but it may be a first step.

When we are needing God’s provision, while it is a necessity that we take it to the Lord in prayer, we should also ask ourselves, “What can I do get the process of provision started.” Even if it is not a permanent solution to the problem, we need to ask ourselves what we can do to open the door to new possibilities.

You see, when you start taking those first steps of faith, you open the door for good things in your life. You open the door to what has been called by author Steve May, God-ordained coincidences.  These are those moments that initially seem to be a coincidence, but once you have the time and the perspective to look back on the events, you realize that the only way the events could have lined up was for God to be involved in it. However, for today, please remember, those moments often occur when you have taken the first step. When you have begun to glean in your circumstances.

Stepping Into God's Provision

The story of Ruth and Naomi is a fabulous story of redemption. We began the story last week by watching Naomi lose everything, her home, her husband, and her two sons. Her situation went from bad to worse. But we also saw her “set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah” (Ruth 1:7).  The name Judah literally means praise. She was going back to the place of blessing. Last week we looked at three action steps Naomi took to get from a really bad place to a place of praise and blessing.

Naomi and Ruth’s transformation from a bad place to a blessed place, didn’t just happen because they their luck changed. Their redemption from destitution to harvest wasn’t just a lucky guess. They set out on the road, they put themselves in a place to be blessed by God. Over and over we are seeing that principle being played out in the lives of the characters in the Bible. If you want to be blessed, you have to put yourself in a place of blessing.

This week, we are going to look at chapter 2 of Ruth. And in this chapter, we are introduced to another vital character in our novel. His name is Boaz. He is a wealthy landowner in Judah, and we discover that he is a distant relative of Naomi’s. In fact, in this story, he is referred to as a kinsman-redeemer. We will look at what that title means next week, but this week, he is just Boaz, a wealthy man who owns a wheat field.

Remember that at this time, Naomi and Ruth are living back in Bethlehem. They arrived back from Moab just as the harvest season was beginning. They have no money nor any way to make any money. Naomi is an old widow lady and Ruth is a foreigner. They are just trying to survive. And what we are going to discover today is that they do more than just survive. Because Ruth is able to step into God’ provision, Ruth and Naomi move from poverty to extreme blessings. And in doing so, she provides a tremendous example for us.

I wonder how many of us would like to take a permanent step into God’s provision? To be in that place where He leads you, guides you, blesses you, protects you, and dare I say it, even prospers you. Do you want to be in that place? Like last week’s story on how Naomi gave us three action steps to take to move from bad to better. This week, we will be looking on as Ruth models three action steps of how to experience God’s provision in your life.

One Decision Can Determine Your Entire Legacy

Yesterday we looked at the decisions made by Naomi's two daughter-in-laws, one name Orpah, and the other named Ruth. Their widowed mother-in-law had made the decision to return to Judah. She encouraged her two Moabite daughter-in-laws to remain in Moab and try to find new husbands who could provide for them. And the two girls made different decisions.

Orpah decided to stay in Moab. Ruth decided to go with Naomi to Bethlehem. And here is the deal about their decisions. Even though, at the time, they appeared to be fairly insignificant decisions, in fact, these decisions determined the legacy of the two daughter-in-laws for 3000 years. Most of us have heard of Ruth. I mean, at the very least, there is a book in the Bible written about her. Few of us have ever heard of Orpah.

These two young women were faced with a decision we all have to eventually make. And whether or not they knew the impact their choices would be afterwards, they both had to answer these questions. So do you and I: "In which country are you going to live...Moab? or Judah? Who will you serve? Where do your loyalties lie?" You must eventually answer those three questions. Ruth declared to Naomi in Ruth 1: 16, 17: “Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

When you take the journey from bad to better, you will encounter moments of decision in which you determine which direction you will take, and where your future will be. Not everyone will be able to take that journey with you, so you'll have to decide where your loyalties lie. Ruth chose Bethlehem over Moab. She said to Naomi, “Your home is my home, your people are my people, your God is my God.” Not everyone will take the journey with you, so when you reach that moment of decision, you can be sure it will be your decision. No one can make it for you.

Choose Who You Lose

When making her move from a bad situation to a better one, the second action step that Naomi took was to release those who did not want to make the journey with her. When you decide to go back to your Bethlehem, some people will want to stay in their Moab, because they think it is a better place for them. The second action step you will have to make if you are going to build a better life for yourself will require you to say good-bye to some people.

Naomi was honest with her two daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah. She told them that she was old and not able to care for them the way she would like. She encouraged them both to remain in Moab and remarry. She knew that in Judah, the men would not be inclined to marry foreign women. That was the tradition. Orpah kissed Naomi good-bye and headed back to Moab. Ruth decided to stay.

The reality is, no matter what direction you move your life in, you will leave behind some people. Some like Ruth, or some like Orpah. You can stay in your Moab, remain in a destitute place and keep your companions, at least for a while (you see, the Ruths in your life, those who really want to follow God, will always move to a better place eventually), or you can make the decision to move on to your Judah, your place of praise and blessing. You get to choose who you are going to lose. Orpah or Ruth? Stay in Moab...go to Judah? Destitution...praise and blessing? Who will you choose? Where will you choose?

Tomorrow, we will look at the lasting legacy of Ruth and Orpah's decision.

Get On The Right Road

It seems so simple...if you want to get to a desired destination, you have to be on a road that leads to that destination. Good intentions will not get you where you want to go if you are on the wrong road. We all know it's true. But so many people think they will be the exception.

The Bible says that Naomi received word that the famine had ended in Bethlehem, and Ruth 1:7 we are told:  “With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.”


When we set out on the road that will take us where we want to go, it is important to remember that it is a journey. We want instant results, to move from bad to blessed overnight. Most of the time, it doesn't happen that way. The first action step that Naomi took to turn her bad situation better was to set out! She put some distance from the bad situation she was in and the place of praise she wanted to be. There is some distance you must travel in order to get out of the place where you've been living and get to the place where you want to be. It's a process. And the first step is to get on the road.

I love the way Andy Stanley puts in his book "The Principle of the Path". If you live in Chattanooga and decide to go to Florida, you can pack on the right stuff, have every intention of going to the beach, and even be excited about the trip. But if you get on Interstate 75 north, no matter how good your intentions are, no matter how excited you are about the trip, you will never get to Florida. To get to the destination you want, you have to get on the right road.

So let me encourage you today to take a good look at the road you are traveling. Look at the decisions you are making. Take a look at your daily schedule and your checkbook. If those things indicate you are making choices to keep leading you from bad to worse...it's time to get on another road. Set out on the road back to Judah...back to praise...back to blessing.

A Journey From Bad To Better

This week, we began a new sermon series based on the book of Ruth. It is a book filled with tremendous truths even thought it is a very small book. There are only four chapters, 85 verses, and you can read the entire book in less than 20 minutes. Yet this book is filled with amazing principles.

The theme of our first sermon, in fact, the theme of the book, is one of tremendous encouragement. The over-arching theme reminds us of this great truth: When it appears that all hope is lost...it isn't! 


This week, we are going to explore chapter one through the eyes of one of the main characters, Naomi. Twelve-hundred years before the birth of Christ, Naomi and her husband, Emilech, lived in the city of Bethlehem with their two sons. This was during a very difficult time for the people of Judah. There was a tremendous famine in the land. People were starving to death. So Emilech decided to move his small family 50 miles to the east, to the pagan city of Moab. Even though it was only 50 miles away, Moab was a totally different culture. They worshiped pagan gods, and were even involved in human sacrifices.

The situation in Judah must have been extremely bad if Emilech was willing to move his family to Moab. The Bible says that Emilech planned to  move to Moab "for a while", indicating that he planned to stay there for a short time. The implication was, hen the famine in Judah was complete, he was going to move his family back to Judah. However, shortly after moving to Moab, Emilech died, leaving Naomi to raise her two sons by herself. Her journey from bad just got worse.

But that is not the end of the story. What was meant to be a short visit to Moab became a decade long stay. During that time, Naomi's sons married Moabite women. Even though she was a widow, living in a foreign land, things were at least remaining on a status quo. But then, it went from bad to worse again.

After a decade, both of her sons died. Now, Naomi was left to take care of her two daughter-in-laws. She wass alone and destitute, facing more responsibility than she should ever have to face.

But her story doesn't end there! It is not just a story of moving from bad to worse to worse. It is actually a story of moving from bad to better. Even though she was at the point where it appeared she had lost everything, a new life was waiting for her right around the corner.

The Bible says that Naomi received word that the famine had ended in Bethlehem, and Ruth 1:7 is a key verse:  “With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.” Remember, the word Judah literally means praise. Naomi is going back to the land of praise, the land of blessing. If you don't like the situation you're in right now, Naomi’s example gives us three action steps to move from worse to better. We will be exploring those action steps this week.

But for today, remember this...when it looks like all is hopeless...it isn't!