Mountain Roads - Pt 3

Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.” (Ruth 4:11-12 ESV).

The directions were “Just walk down the alleyway and look for the roses around our door. You can’t miss it.” Well, they were right! God’s markers pointing us to His grace are like that. Ruth was written to help us see the markers of the grace of God in our lives, and to help us trust his grace even when the clouds are so thick that we can't see the road let alone the signs on the side. Let's go back and remind ourselves that it was God who acted to turn each setback into a stepping stone to joy, and that it is God in all of our bitter providences who is plotting for our good.  First, when Naomi's whole life seemed to cave in while in Moab, it was God who gave Ruth to Naomi. We know this from two verses. At the root of Ruth's commitment to Naomi is Ruth's commitment to Naomi's God: "Your God shall be my God" (Ruth 1:16). God had won Ruth's allegiance in Moab and so it was to God that Naomi owed the amazing love of her daughter-in-law. And, when Ruth came to Judah with Naomi, she was coming to take refuge under the wings of God (Ruth 2:11). All along it was God turning Naomi's setback into joy, even when she was oblivious to his grace.  Second, Naomi gives the impression that there is no hope that Ruth could marry and raise up children to continue the family line (Ruth 1:12). But all the while God is preserving a wealthy and godly man named Boaz to do just that. She recognizes that behind the "accidental" meeting of Ruth and Boaz was the "kindness of God who has not forsaken the living or the dead." In every loss that the godly endure God is already plotting for their gain.  Third, who was it that gave to the barren womb of Ruth the child so that the neighborhood women could say, "A son has been born to Naomi"? God gave the child (v. 11-13). The townspeople pray for Boaz and Ruth. They know that Ruth was married for ten years without a child. So they remember Rachel whose womb the Lord had opened long before. And they pray that God will make Ruth like Rachel and Leah. So again and again in this book it was God who was at work in the bitter setbacks of Naomi. When she lost her husband and sons, God gave her Ruth. When she could think of no kinsman to raise up offspring for the family name, God gave her Boaz. When barren Ruth married Boaz, God gave the child. The point of the story is made in the life of Naomi. The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but God sees that they get there. His call to us remains the same, “Trust me.” He will never leave us. He will not abandon us to the perils of this life. Follow the clear markers left by Jesus.