Spot the connections!
| "The LORD bless him!" Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. "He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead." She added, "That man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers." (Ruth2:20) |
When Ruth tells the story of her day, it is Naomi who spots the connections and is able to see the golden thread of God's provision and guidance.
Very often God is at work in the commonplace and the mundane. Many people expect God to thunder and write on the wall. They want Him to lead them through parted seas with fiery cloudy pillars, but He is often at work in subtle and day-to-day ways.
Ruth "just so happened" to go to Boaz's field, Boaz "happened" to notice her, and "it turned out" that he was a close relative who would be able to act as the Kinsman-Redeemer.
This is the "modus operandi" of God in the Books of Ruth and Esther and in a number of other Biblical accounts. Naomi is close enough to God and sensitive in her spirit to "spot the connections."
We should also take time to "join the dots" of our circumstances and see the gracious provision of God and the guidance He gives.
But there must be a word of caution here: We can go too far in interpreting circumstances and spotting connections. There has to be a healthy balance as far as understanding that we live in a broken world where chaos and sin are predominate.
Not every set of circumstances are a message from God...
Our interpretation of life's "open and closed doors" needs to be balanced by deep roots in Scriptural Truth, a healthy prayer life, and a wise panel of trusted common-sense God-fearing spiritual advisors.
