"LIVES ENTWINED"
"Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." (Ruth 1:16)
With this heartfelt expression of loyalty and love, a young woman named Ruth declared her unshakable commitment to her mother-in-law Naomi. The account of their mutual devotion is recorded in the book of Ruth, a Hebrew short story whose author is unknown. The brief book is a welcome relief from the Old Testament tales of bloodshed and mayhem during the time of the judges.
Ruth was from Moab and married Naomi's son after the Israelite family fled there to escape a famine. After their husbands both died, the women returned to Judah together, but for Naomi it was a bitter homecoming. In her view, God had raised his hand against her. Death had stolen her husband and two sons. All Naomi had left was her precious Ruth.
In Bethlehem, the women endured the crosswinds of poverty, relying on the kindness of others. Mosaic Law required landowners to allow the needy to pick up grain missed by their harvesters. Gleaning fields was not without danger to Ruth, a foreigner and a young woman alone, but she was determined to provide for Naomi.
Psalm 84:11 assures that God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. Clearly, Ruth and Naomi were honorable women, but it must have seemed that God denied them so much that was good in life. But in time, with the benefit of a distant view, they saw that God was not withholding goodness, nor was his hand raised against them.
While gleaning a field, Ruth met a landowner named Boaz, a thoroughly decent man who turned out to be a close relative of Naomi. Touched by Ruth's devotion to her mother-in-law, Boaz protected the young widow and in time took her as his wife. The couple and their son Obed are listed in the genealogy found in the gospel of Matthew. From their family came the royal family of David and the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
This beautiful story illustrates the promise that God does not withhold good things from his children, but sometime he does postpone them. Our lives are so entwined with others that sometime delay simply has to be. There is a harmony in God's will that is impossible for us to grasp, but in which we can surely trust. Delay is not denial, nor is it withholding. It is the working out of God's perfect will for us all in the most wonderful way possible.
With this heartfelt expression of loyalty and love, a young woman named Ruth declared her unshakable commitment to her mother-in-law Naomi. The account of their mutual devotion is recorded in the book of Ruth, a Hebrew short story whose author is unknown. The brief book is a welcome relief from the Old Testament tales of bloodshed and mayhem during the time of the judges.
Ruth was from Moab and married Naomi's son after the Israelite family fled there to escape a famine. After their husbands both died, the women returned to Judah together, but for Naomi it was a bitter homecoming. In her view, God had raised his hand against her. Death had stolen her husband and two sons. All Naomi had left was her precious Ruth.
In Bethlehem, the women endured the crosswinds of poverty, relying on the kindness of others. Mosaic Law required landowners to allow the needy to pick up grain missed by their harvesters. Gleaning fields was not without danger to Ruth, a foreigner and a young woman alone, but she was determined to provide for Naomi.
Psalm 84:11 assures that God withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly. Clearly, Ruth and Naomi were honorable women, but it must have seemed that God denied them so much that was good in life. But in time, with the benefit of a distant view, they saw that God was not withholding goodness, nor was his hand raised against them.
While gleaning a field, Ruth met a landowner named Boaz, a thoroughly decent man who turned out to be a close relative of Naomi. Touched by Ruth's devotion to her mother-in-law, Boaz protected the young widow and in time took her as his wife. The couple and their son Obed are listed in the genealogy found in the gospel of Matthew. From their family came the royal family of David and the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
This beautiful story illustrates the promise that God does not withhold good things from his children, but sometime he does postpone them. Our lives are so entwined with others that sometime delay simply has to be. There is a harmony in God's will that is impossible for us to grasp, but in which we can surely trust. Delay is not denial, nor is it withholding. It is the working out of God's perfect will for us all in the most wonderful way possible.
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