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.