Scripture:

“So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.’

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’ And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.” Ruth 4:13-17 (NIV)

Perspective:

The story of redemption in Ruth’s life didn’t start with Boaz. It started with her decision to follow her mother-in-law home to Israel. Ruth had lost her husband; she had no children. She was a foreigner in an unknown country. They didn’t have retirement benefits, and Naomi could not bear her another son to marry. On paper, it looked hopeless, but God did not define her story by what she didn’t have. Through a series of events, Boaz married Ruth, and she had a son. All that she had lost was all coming back together in an unexpected way. Ruth couldn’t have understood the role she was playing in history at that time. She was the great grandmother of king David. He was the king who we know as a man after God’s own heart.

Ruth’s story should give us hope. God did not define her life by what she had lost or what she didn’t have. Sometimes we take a mental picture of our lives when we are walking through a hard time and assume that it will be that way forever. Ruth had a stack of disappointments, but she never seemed to hold on to them. Like Ruth, you can’t conceive the role you are playing in history. God is crafting your story into a bigger story. If you are facing something difficult today, rest assured that new blessings can come. They may just look different than you expected.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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About Hona Amer

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