Tuesday, November 4, 2008

THE LORD WILL PUT YOU WHERE HE WANTS YOU

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz.

And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor."

Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.

Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The Lord be with you!"

"The Lord bless you!" they called back.

Ruth 2:1-4

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Ruth, Chapter 1 concluded, we saw where Naomi and Ruth had arrived back in Bethlehem. You’ll recall that they had returned there because Naomi had heard the Lord had provided His people with food in the midst of the terrible famine that had struck the land.

Thus, Chapter 2 begins with Ruth asking permission from Naomi to “go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." This process known as gleaning was popular in Old Testament times as those who were less fortunate would be allowed to collect grain, fruit or vegetables that had been left behind after a harvest. In the case of Ruth, she was going to collect leftover grain.

Now we read where Naomi still had family in Bethlehem…”a relative on her husband's side from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing whose name was Boaz”. And after Naomi had given Ruth her consent to go to the fields, scripture tells us that she “went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters”. She hadn’t gone looking for a specific field owned by a specific person. Rather, she only looked for a field where she could collect some grain to help feed her and Naomi.

Well, as it turned out, “she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz”…yes…the same Boaz that was Naomi’s relative “from the clan of Elimelech”, her deceased husband. We further see where Boaz is a man of the Lord for he greets his harvesters by saying, “"The Lord be with you!" to which they replied, "The Lord bless you!"

Indeed, the Lord was blessing Ruth and she wasn’t aware of it yet. One could maybe say that Ruth ended up in the field of Boaz by chance but God doesn’t work off the principle of chance, does He? No…God had Ruth right where He wanted her to be…and the same applied to Boaz as we will see…and this is something we all need to remember. For He does the same with us.

Indeed, we need never worry too much whether we are in the right place in the right time. We need only put our life in God’s hands and allow Him to lead and guide us where He wants us to be. When we do this, we can rest assured He will never lead or guide us wrong but instead always put us exactly where he wants us to fulfill whatever purpose He has for us.

Friends, this is what makes life exciting. We don’t know what lies ahead in any one given day but if we place every second of every minute of every hour of every day in God’s hands, know and trust that He will fill it with His will and way and purpose. And when we finish the day and look back, we won’t be able to do anything less than praise and give Him all the glory for the way he took and ordinary person like you and I and did something extraordinary through us.

Yes…the Lord will always put you right where he wants you to be. Have you sought His purpose for you today?

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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