Have you ever been in the car with someone else driving? There are a multitude of illustrations from this statement alone! However, I want to zero in on the driver taking a route to your destination with which you are not familiar. The driver keeps saying something like: “I know where I am and where I’m going…so relax and trust me.” But you’ve never been on that road before….you feel like you are headed in the opposite direction! You are convinced that your way is better. However, you eventually arrive at your destination safe and sound.
That is how it often is with the believer following the Lord’s path. “I’ve never been on this path before Lord!” “I feel like we are headed in the wrong direction Lord!” But as we grow, we learn to trust the Lord more…relax a bit more…and rest in the Lord, knowing he will lead us all the way!
The Kinsman (v. 19-20)
Ruth returns home from work, shows Naomi her outcome of her hard work, and Naomi asks, “Where did you work today?!” Naomi believed Ruth’s harvest to not be a common harvest. It was very generous!
Where have you been working this week? What seeds did you plant? What harvest have you brought home? What improvements have you chosen that have drawn you closer to your Savior?
The revelation of Boaz led Naomi to make an announcement: “He is our kinsman!” If the close relative called the kinsman accepted the role of kinsman, he would marry the widow, produce an heir to keep his relative’s family line going…he could also redeem a relative from slavery, redeem his brother’s land, and even exact vengeance for his brother.
One of the things I enjoyed as a child on a rainy or sick day was “Connect the Dots.” You would look at the picture of dots and some lines here and there – but it only looked like a bunch of dots and lines. Then I would begin to connect the dots, and as the picture began to fill in, I started to see what I was drawing! I couldn’t make sense of it all at the beginning, but towards the end everything started making sense to me.
God starts connecting the dots for Ruth in His master plan!
In John 14, the disciples didn’t understand where the Lord was going or what His plans were…they were confused and scared. They had two choices: trust the Lord and follow Him with what they did know or run away.
Ruth has been laboring in the fields as a Moabite in Bethlehem. Ruth is poor and trying to provide for her older mother-in-law, so she takes the lead from a page in the Mosaic Law and gleans in the fields. At this point, she might even be privately longing for home. Ruth cannot see the end to this struggle. All she can do is what she knows to do and trust God.
We often don’t see or understand what God is doing, but we can rest in the Lord, knowing He will lead us all the way!
The Instruction (v. 21-23)
Naomi tells Ruth to continue in Boaz’s fields until the end of the barley harvest. In other words -- keep on doing what you have been doing. Follow. God’s. Law. -- follow the light God has already given you!
Times are hard. Ruth may have wondered if there was a better way for her to pursue…but Naomi’s revelation of Boaz’s position starts to provide hope…God begins connecting the dots for Ruth and Naomi!!
5 lessons about following God:
God’s path is worth pursuing.
Don’t give up -- keep on going! Ruth doesn’t know how God will meet her needs. She doesn’t know she will be King David’s grandmother and be a part of the lineage of the Savior. God is at work even when you can’t see what He is doing. Don’t stop 2 yards from the finish line! (Genesis 50:20; Philippians 3:14)
God reveals His work in His time.
Ruth is tired. It’s been hard for a long time now. Sometimes the Lord doesn’t reveal what He is doing -- until He does it. So, we must find rest in hard times by trusting Him. (Isaiah 26:4; Proverbs 29:25)
God is good to affirm the path He has for you.
The natural human response to trials is discouraged, self-pity, and questioning why. Although we don’t know if Ruth voiced these things, we do know God knows when we need affirmation. God uses Naomi to, in essence say, “Keep going…keep doing what you are doing.” Don’t you love it when God affirms what you are doing is the pathway He wants you to continue pursuing?! (Psalm 100:5; 145:8-9)
4. God knows when it is time to encourage you.
Can you imagine how encouraging it must have been to be treated so kindly by a stranger in time of such need? Can you imagine how encouraging it must have been to receive such generosity in a time of having so little?
We think we know when we need encouragement, don’t we? Encouragement is often long in coming during hardship. God knows the spiritual muscle we need for what is ahead and He allows resistance to build that spiritual muscle. God knows what He is doing. Trust Him. (Psalm 37:3-5)
5. God is worth the sacrifice and struggle.
Remember, the struggle for Ruth and Naomi is not over yet. Ruth will still be gleaning in the fields until the end of the barley harvest. We also know there is an unexpected kinsman in this story that complicates things later (but he has not yet been introduced). The struggle is not over. God is still working! (Proverbs 19:21; 16:9; 21:1)
Ever go to the store to pick up the dishwasher soap you always buy…only to discover that everything looks different? The color of the packaging has completely changed and it takes you a few minutes to figure out if this is the same thing you got two weeks ago…and then you realize – it is the “New and Improved” model. Why?? Well, technology advanced and research successfully found a better formula to do the job.
We are often looking for something new or different to solve our problems. The answer is still the same. Follow. God’s. Word. – and trust Him! The impossibilities in life can overwhelm us…we must take our focus off the impossibilities, place our focus on the one who can, and then choose to follow God’s Word regardless of what we see. We can rest in the Lord, knowing He will lead us all the way!
Are you allowing the Lord to lead you all the way? What have you been doing in the fields this week? The harvest you are or will reap is always determined by the seeds you are planting! Where is it you need to get back to following God’s Word?
Have you replaced the Lord with an idol? Are there many reasons why you don’t have time for God?
Do you honor your parents? Do you have justification for not honoring them?
Are you known by your love for others or love for yourself? Are you so consumed with your own to-do list that you run over people in your path…missing the opportunity to impact for Christ?
Go back to the basics! The Bible tells us this is the “church age” within the varying dispensations of time. Do you know Christ as your Savior, but have never been baptized? Have you become a member of a local Bible preaching church? What are you waiting for?
Are you looking for ways to disciple others…to be disciple makers…to sharpen other believers in their relationship with Jesus?
We must first go back to what we already know – and follow God’s Word! It is crucial for greater understanding and greater relationship with Jesus.