Mighty issues hang on minor decisions. Ruth might have joined any group of gleaners in any field, but “as it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz . . . ” We turn the pages, and she is Boaz’s bride and soon the mother of his son. From that son came David and in due course “great David’s greater Son.” What, we are inclined to ask, if she had happened to choose some other field?
Things turned out as they did because all things are subject to the providence of God. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). “Luck” and “chance” and “coincidence” are pagan words which have little place in the vocabulary of those whose eyes have been opened to see the kingdom of God.
There is a human side to this. The godly are not the objects of blind fate. Ruth went out to glean trusting in the Lord with all her heart, not leaning on her own understanding. She walked by faith even in the minor decisions of daily life. Because she acknowledged God in all her ways, she found her paths directed by him (Prov. 3:5-6).
“So she departed and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.”
Ruth 2:3 NASB1995
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