Happy Sabbath friends! In honor of Saint Patricks Day being this past week, I thought I would focus on a piece of scripture that resembled the concept of “luck” in some way. The first story that came to mind was the story of Ruth.
What does the word “luck” ultimately mean? According to Merrian-Webster, luck can be defined as, “the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual”. The Bible does not place a huge emphasis on luck, as “luck” in God’s eyes can be defined as “divine intervention”, or “divine providence”. It is highly encouraged in the Word of God that all good things come from God, in which we should ultimately put our faith in Him.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
James 1:17 NIV
In the story of Ruth, the demonstration of “divine providence” was exemplified the most in the book of Ruth, Chapter 2.
“Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite 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, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my Lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.” When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.” So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough. Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!” Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. “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 guardian-redeemers.” Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’ ” Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.” So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.”
Ruth 2:1-23 NIV
“Divine providence” can be found within this single chapter in the book of Ruth. In verse 3, “divine providence” is first found when it is stated, “…as it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz…”. The use of “as it turned out” demonstrates that it was act of “divine providence” because Ruth’s goal was to go to the fields and look for favor in someone’s eyes. It wasn’t planned for her to meet Boaz, who was the relative of Naomi on her husband’s side of the family (small world am I right?). In this world, this would be considered luck you might say, because Ruth could have ended up in anyone else’s field, but she ended up in Boaz’ field. Our Heavenly Father sure does have a way of looking out for us, especially when we least expect Him to. The reason this was such good luck, or “divine providence” was because if it was anyone else’s field, Ruth could have been harmed as it stated in verse 22.
Boaz found favor in Ruth, just as the Lord finds favor in each of us. Boaz wanted Ruth to be protected on his field, just as the Lord wants us to be protected in His presence.
Another aspect of Ruth’s story that stood out to me would be in verse 12. Because of the Godly things Ruth has done throughout her life, she was greatly rewarded by Boaz. This ties in the aspect of “divine providence” perfectly because if we submit ourselves and follow our Heavenly Father all the days of our life, then we will be greatly rewarded. The “good luck”, or “divine providence” that we encounter in our lives, stem from our faithfulness to the Lord our God. When we surrender ourselves to Him, we will be richly blessed and protected from harm, just as Ruth was with Boaz.
“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.”
Matthew 19:29 NLT
“And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19 NLT
We may encounter times in our lives where we think we have it all figured out. Times where we may feel we are in control, but ultimately our Heavenly Father is the One in control at all times. He already has our life written out, and what we may expect to come, may just be a little speck of the great and miraculous things that He has in store for each of us. God’s plan is better than we can ever imagine. We just need to surrender our control, trust, and lives over to Him, and fully allow Him to lead us to the field where we can be richly rewarded and protected by Him.
“We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.”
Proverbs 16:33 NLT
“We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 NLT
I pray over all who may be reading this message that they let go of any control they may be holding onto. It is always good to have some sort of plan for your life, but we should not put our whole entire faith in the goals and plans we made for ourselves when we have a God who is a million times greater. Ruth had a plan to find a field where she might find favor. She had a plan in mind, but God was bigger than that plan, and richly blessed her by leading her to Boaz who granted her protection, food, shelter, etc. God will do the exact same for each of us. We need to just believe that there is a “divine providence” out there. We need to trust that God’s plans and where He is leading us is so much bigger and better than we can ever imagine.
““Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.””
John 14:1-4 NLT
Just as Ruth was richly blessed when she encountered Boaz’ field…may we be richly blessed when we are filled by the divine presence of our Heavenly Father.
Amen.
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Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Luck definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/luck
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