Reflect on Ruth and Naomi

Here are some ways to reflect on Ruth’s story:

1. Naomi and Ruth’s story teaches us about the way God uses even our grimmest experiences to create more room in our lives for his blessing. It is a mistake to think that anything is out of God’s control. His sovereignty over everything (including trouble and evil) is for our good. God is working even in the worst of times in our lives or nation. Ruth shows that God is still working even when the majority of people who ought to be serving him have grown cold in heart. He works in quite ordinary circumstances.

2. It also illustrates the way in which Jesus is our redeemer; how he oversees the circumstances that will bring us to a place of safety and prosperity within his family. Boaz fleshes out for us the strong protective love that Jesus has for each of us.

3. God took care of Ruth because she had come to shelter under his wings (2.13). Like a tiny flightless eaglet, she was seeking safety under the enormous wings of the giant eagle. Psalm 57.1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.Ruth took refuge under God’s wings from the moment she recognised the qualities of God in Naomi and rejected the hollowness of her nation’s idols. She fled from the useless way of life handed down to her from her forefathers (1 Peter 1.18), even at the risk of material comfort. God sheltered her and was making a new life for her. Are you under God’s wing or still on the run?