We believe that God is sovereign and we have it explicitly stated in our confessions of faith. But what does that really mean? Does it mean he can do without us and that he can work miracles?
Of course the answer to those questions is 'Yes'. God is sovereign. He can do all things and he can do them alone. But is that his usual way of working? And what does it mean for us to have faith in a sovereign God?
Those questions are taken up and answered in this passage as we follow Naomi and Ruth back in Bethlehem. They have come back from Moab in great need, mentally, emotionally, physically and perhaps spiritually too. A lot hangs on what happens next.
1. A Man Called Boaz (v.1)
What happens next is that we, the readers, are given extra details. We're introduced to a man by the name of Boaz. And what we're told about him is intriguing in terms of the story: he is a relative of Naomi's, on Elimelech's side; he is rich and he is a man of standing.
Here then is someone eminently suitable for helping Naomi and Ruth. God works through families; his covenant with his people was founded in family life - so will this relative help them? After all, he has the means to do so. But riches don't guarantee a generous spirit. Yet he is a worthy man, a man of integrity. Surely he will be significant in their lives? We are yet to see!
The writer of Ruth clearly wants to alert us to this possibility. No doubt Naomi knew of him - but he wasn't in her mind. But we're being put on notice: God is at work. It may be behind the scenes, but he is at work all the same, even before we are.
Things we have forgotten (Naomi) or may be ignorant of (Ruth) may turn out to be truly significant in the Lord's hands. No detail, small or otherwise, is unimportant to him. Here is the God to trust with all the details of your life!
So the question has been raised here: will this man affect the lives of these women? Are they really 'on their own'? Read on!
2. A Woman Called Ruth (v.2)
The scene then switches back to Naomi and Ruth. Their situation is depressing and desperate: no food & no obvious means of support. How will they survive? Does trust in God mean sitting & waiting for a food parcel to drop out of the sky?
What we see is Ruth taking the initiative and making plans to go out and glean in the fields (picking up the leftovers). But the initiative that she takes is entirely in keeping with the structure of life that the Lord had laid down for his people. In Lev 19:9,10 the people were explicitly instructed NOT to harvest every last scrap nor to go through the fields a second time. Why not? They were to "leave them for the poor and the alien".
Faith in a sovereign God does not mean a passive resignation to whatever will be. Rather, we have a part to play. Paul expresses it this way in Phil 2:12,13 - "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, to will and to act according to his good purpose".
Ruth is doing something that we may at times be slow to do: she is putting herself in the way of God's blessing. She is swimming with the current of God's purposes of grace. The Lord calls us to be his fellow workers, to live responsible lives and to make decisions that are in accord with his word.
Did they pray before Ruth went out? Very likely. It's right to do so. But what seems clear is that Ruth didn't wait for a specific word from God, she acted on the word he had already given.
And that is our responsibility too: to know and then to do God's word. Faith in a sovereign God means we listen to and obey his word. He has given us a part to play, a job to do, a role to fulfil. We must make sure that our faith is active and working.
It's all too possible to speak of trusting God's sovereignty in a fatalistic sense: que sera sera. But that isn't the biblical picture. So we need to make sure it isn't ours either. Faith in God is not static because it is about a dynamic, responsive relationship.
Are there areas of your life where you need to be active, to take the initiative in line with what God has said in his word and how he has ordered things? We don't need extra instructions to do good & live wisely within his structures. In scripture we have all we need as the Spirit helps us to understand and apply it.
3. A God Called Sovereign (v.3)
But doesn't this give too big a part to us and minimise God's sovereignty, robbing him of his glory?
In these verses, Ruth recognises that others have a part to play. She hopes to find favour in someone's eyes. We're reminded that she is a Maobitess. God's word explicitly speaks of receiving the alien and providing for them - but that doesn't guarantee that people will do so! She is aware enough of this to express her hope of being treated kindly.
So is she - and are we - at the mercy of others?
Verse 3 is very interesting. It tells us that "As it turned out" she found herself in Boaz's field. That's the writer's ironic way of saying to us, "God is at work here!". What looks like luck in the eyes of an unbelieving world is, to the eye of faith, the overruling providence of a wise and gracious God.
One of the key lessons for us here is what Prov 3:5,6 tells us. We are to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, in all our doing. And as we do so, he will direct our paths. Ruth didn't get a specific word or 'feeling' to go to Boaz's field; she just went and God ordered things.
Yes, we've got our part to play; and, yes, others may hinder or help. They are responsible before God too. But over it all is the gracious, sovereign hand of God! What looks like an accident, a chance thing, is in reality God's overruling providence. Ruth doesn't know which field is which; she doesn't know about Boaz. But God does and he directs her paths.
What we do matters but, as we do it, remember that God is at work, overruling and furthering his purposes for us. You are secure in his sovereign grace. Doesn't that make you want to trust him and to live for him? Even when we make bad choices - and that might involve things we simply cannot undo - he is still able to redeem the situation, he is still in control. You can trust him.
4. Conclusion
So here, for Ruth and Naomi, as one writer has said, we see "a crack in a seemingly impenetrable wall...the beginning of a possible path from death to life, from bitterness to joy". And it's all because they're in the hands of a sovereign God.
Are we ready to trust this same God as we go about our daily life? Will we live out our salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that he is at work within us? The sovereignty of God doesn't preclude our actions; rather it call them forth. A secure and biblical doctrine of God's sovereignty has both of those components in place.
Are they in place in your life today?
