Difficulty and desperation come.
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.
- Ruth 1:1-2
The worst-case scenario can happen in spite of our best efforts.
3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
- Ruth 1:3-5
We need to seek God even when we can’t see God.
16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
- Ruth 1:16
God is moving on our behalf even when we can’t see it.
3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech.
- Ruth 2:328 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- Romans 8:28
How can we be positioned to experience God’s providence?
1. The Right God
“Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”
- Ruth 1:16
2. The Right Attitude
She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.”
- Ruth 2:7
3. Do Things the Right Way
9 Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, “You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10 Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day.”
- Ruth 4:9-10
If we’re positioned for God’s providence, then we’re positioned for God’s purposes too.
21 Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, 22 Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.
- Ruth 4:21-22