Last week, we left Naomi in the midst of sorrow, but we already caught a glimpse of the coming redemption. From Naomi in chapter 1, we can learn that faulty assumptions about God, ourselves, and our futures can grab the wheel and steer our lives into identifying with sorrow, failure, and bitterness. However, we don’t need to look in the review mirror, see a tragic past, and then allow faulty assumptions to drive us for the rest of the journey! We need to keep our eyes looking straight ahead at the next road-sign. We must have the humility to realize that we don’t actually know everything that is going on in our own lives. Naomi certainly didn’t know that she was about to be included in the story of King David of Israel—the royal ancestor of the Messiah. All she could see was famine, death, and destitution. To her, the future looked bleak. While this is an understandable human perspective, the Bible gives us a glimpse of God’s perspective. Only God knows what is truly going on in our lives and, with Him, the best is always yet to come. Like Naomi, when we think that our story is ending, it is only just beginning. As the apostle wrote in Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Ultimately, for every Christian, suffering is a temporary and fleeting prologue to the story God is writing for us. And it is a glorious story of joy, peace, purpose, and redemption that never ends!
In addition to humility—realizing we don’t know everything about our lives—we must practice gratitude. God is good and is demonstrating His goodness in our lives even when we can’t feel it. Like Naomi, we often tend to overlook the good things that God has sent our way in a season of hardship. As we enter a new season of life, Naomi’s words may resonate with us: “I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty.” Humanly speaking, these feelings may be valid, especially if you’ve experienced the kind of loss that Naomi had. However, we must look to the Bible for the truth that contradicts our feelings. And the truth is that God never sends us into a new season empty handed. We may feel like we are empty and abandoned but, if we look for it, we will find God’s faithfulness written all over our story. Naomi didn’t have to look far—Ruth was right there! Neither do you or I have to look far to see God’s faithfulness and steadfast love for us. His blessings may look unassuming at first glance. (Ruth was a Moabite woman whom no one assumed would be in the lineage of the Messiah!) But God uses unassuming little blessings to add up to life-altering blessings. We must look for these unassuming blessings—like Ruth was to Naomi—and proactively thank God for them.
While urgency and faulty assumptions make power grabs for the steering wheels of our lives, there is another thing that can drive us. And it leads to a much smoother ride. We find this driver in the driver’s seat of Ruth’s life. Naomi seemed to indicate that Ruth was better off with her pagan gods than with Jehovah-God whom she assumed was against her. However, Ruth did not accept that lie. She believed that the best path was that of God’s people. Just as determined as Naomi was stubborn, Ruth said, “whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.” Ruth the Moabitess claimed Jehovah as her God and basically said, “Let the chips fall where they may.” Simply put, what was driving Ruth’s life was faith. She simply believed that God was real and that He was the covenant-keeping King that Naomi and her sons had probably described Him to be. She not only believed that truth, but she took the risk of following Naomi, or rather Naomi’s God, to a new land. She chose to seek God first and let Him take care of the rest. While we often fret over all the things we feel we need in life, we really only have one responsibility. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness;s and all these things shall be added unto you.” Ruth tested out this principle and God added unto her not only food, clothing, and shelter, but also a husband, and a baby, and…well so much more than she could have possibly understood at the time.
We know the rest of the story for Naomi and Ruth. Ruth, the Moabite widow, just happens to start working in the field of a wealthy and kind Jewish man, who just happens to be their kinsman redeemer, who just happens to truly love Ruth and just happens to agree to marry her and redeem the land and lineage of Naomi’s husband. Then, this Moabite widow turned cherished wife just happens to have a baby boy. It reads like a fairytale but better because it is real. So, it turns out that nothing just happens in the story of Naomi and Ruth. God was behind is all!
The book of Ruth concludes with a genealogy. Again, it may look unassuming, but this genealogy connects Naomi and Ruth’s stories with the story of the Messiah. Their story continued with the coming of the Messiah, it continues now in heaven, and it will continue into eternity. Someday, your story and mine and theirs will all converge as we will all enter God’s eternal kingdom. The fraction of the story we read in the book of Ruth is just the beginning of the eternal story of redemption and glory that is written for all who put their faith in Jehovah.
So, are you experiencing a chaotic ride or a joy ride? The answer depends on what is driving your life. Urgency and faulty assumptions are reckless drivers, but faith takes you to the most beautiful destinations. So, buckle up and enjoy the ride.