Hidden stories in the Book of Ruth

Last night we were reading the first chapter of Ruth for family worship. We talked about how sad it was for Naomi to lose her sons and husband. But as we neared the end of the chapter, I started to think about how special that story is. We all know about how God is in control of everything that happens--he is sovereign. We hear things like, "in the providence of God" such-and-such happened. Yet we must remember that even in the sad or hard times, God is still in control--maybe I shouldn't say "even in the sad times." I think that it is during those hard times that God is most clearly showing himself as God. Any human could write a nice story with good things that happen--but God designs sad things or even tragedies to write beautiful stories. Paul says in Ephesians 1:11, that God works all things according to the counsel of his own will. That means even the hard things, or what are sometimes called "dark providences," are not accidents but are intentional acts or allowances of God that he purposes for greater and better things.

These ideas are clear in the first chapter of Ruth. There was a famine in the land (bad). Naomi's family left the land of promise as a result (bad). Her husband died (bad). Her sons married non-Jewish women (bad). Her sons died (bad). But here is where the exciting unfolding of God's greater plan starts to appear. Naomi and Ruth did not live to see the final results of this suffering (and today not even we know everything good that came from these things), but notice what we do see.

Because of these trials, Ruth meets a godly Jewish woman. Because of God's grace in her life, Naomi is a woman whom Ruth desires to be with--even if it means leaving her homeland and possibly giving up opportunity for remarriage. If Ruth's husband had not died, she would not have returned with Naomi to Israel. If her husband had not died and she had not gone with Naomi back to Israel, she would not have met Boaz. Had she not met Boaz, she would not have become the great-grandmother of David and been in the line of Jesus.

Just some thoughts, but how much we need to think on these things every day of our lives. Have faith in the greater story that God is writing even in the midst of troubles--be they recessions, depressions, famines, or sickness.