Divine Guidance in the Details: Ruth’s Providential Encounter
Ruth 2:3b
…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…
So much of God’s leading in our lives falls into the “it just so happened” category. Just think about it for a moment. Although there are certainly exceptions to the rule, most people do not make but a handful of what I would like to call “life-altering” decisions in their entire lifetime. We grow up, we accept Christ (hopefully), we choose a career, we get married, and we live out our lives. MOST of our lives, though set in course by major life decisions, turn out as much or more so of the result of small, incremental, seemingly incidental decisions along the journey, between or after the major decisions. We make our plans, and then providence happens! We call it coincidence or happenstance, but it truly is providence; that of God intervening not only in our major decisions but our day-to-day lives, interweaving His plans, purposes, pleasures, and provisions into our daily lives as we simply try to make it from day to day. And so it was for Ruth. The King James Bible says “…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…”, which means, IT JUST SO HAPPENED! Little did Ruth know that this “just so happen” moment was so providentially orchestrated that she was meeting her future husband, through whose lineage would come the line of King David, and ultimately, the Christ Child! I wish to highlight these “just so happens” because sometimes I think we overlook the fact that God so interweaves Himself into our daily mundane living that His supernatural working in the minute details feels normal and all too often without notice. The Bible even says that the steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord (Psalm 37:23). Think of that! The STEPS…that is, the day-to-day…no, the step-by-step, minute-by-minute decisions of life that seem to be inconsequential to us, are guided by God our Father in such a way that collectively, all of those small moments JUST SO HAPPEN to change our course of history for our good, and ultimately His glory! Dear friend, in the daily grind of life, have you thought to yourself that nothing Heavenly is happening on your behalf, due to your inability to detect it? If so, let this serve as a reminder to you that it JUST SO HAPPENS God is working all things together for good to them that love Him (see Rom. 8:28)! Some of your greatest miracles will be birthed from your smallest moments, when you least expect them. In fact, you won’t even see many of them coming until you start stumbling into them; then, you will see God’s hand in it all!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…
So much of God’s leading in our lives falls into the “it just so happened” category. Just think about it for a moment. Although there are certainly exceptions to the rule, most people do not make but a handful of what I would like to call “life-altering” decisions in their entire lifetime. We grow up, we accept Christ (hopefully), we choose a career, we get married, and we live out our lives. MOST of our lives, though set in course by major life decisions, turn out as much or more so of the result of small, incremental, seemingly incidental decisions along the journey, between or after the major decisions. We make our plans, and then providence happens! We call it coincidence or happenstance, but it truly is providence; that of God intervening not only in our major decisions but our day-to-day lives, interweaving His plans, purposes, pleasures, and provisions into our daily lives as we simply try to make it from day to day. And so it was for Ruth. The King James Bible says “…and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz…”, which means, IT JUST SO HAPPENED! Little did Ruth know that this “just so happen” moment was so providentially orchestrated that she was meeting her future husband, through whose lineage would come the line of King David, and ultimately, the Christ Child! I wish to highlight these “just so happens” because sometimes I think we overlook the fact that God so interweaves Himself into our daily mundane living that His supernatural working in the minute details feels normal and all too often without notice. The Bible even says that the steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord (Psalm 37:23). Think of that! The STEPS…that is, the day-to-day…no, the step-by-step, minute-by-minute decisions of life that seem to be inconsequential to us, are guided by God our Father in such a way that collectively, all of those small moments JUST SO HAPPEN to change our course of history for our good, and ultimately His glory! Dear friend, in the daily grind of life, have you thought to yourself that nothing Heavenly is happening on your behalf, due to your inability to detect it? If so, let this serve as a reminder to you that it JUST SO HAPPENS God is working all things together for good to them that love Him (see Rom. 8:28)! Some of your greatest miracles will be birthed from your smallest moments, when you least expect them. In fact, you won’t even see many of them coming until you start stumbling into them; then, you will see God’s hand in it all!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill