DECEMBER 4

RUTH 4:13–22

Often when God seems absent in moments of
hardship, he is actually exercising his sovereignty
to deliver good gifts of grace to his children.

​

We have all been through tough moments of suffering when
we wonder where God is and are confused about what he
is doing. If you read through the biblical narrative, you will soon
have to let go of the conclusion that hardship means God is absent,
distant, uninvolved, or uncaring. Behind dark clouds of difficulty
is a God who is actively working for the good of his children. God
regularly takes his children places they never would have planned
to go in order to produce in and through them things they never
could have produced on their own. It’s important to recognize that

the workings of God’s grace aren’t always predictable or comfort-
able. Often when we think grace has passed us by, God’s grace is at

work, just not in the way we expect.
The book of Ruth, one of the greatest biblical stories, contains a

compelling and beautiful substory. On the surface Ruth is a beau-
tiful love story, and one of the few biblical stories with women as

main characters. But there is a deeper, more significant love story in
the book of Ruth. It is the story of God’s unshakable, unstoppable
love for his children. This story of human hardship and human
love is also God’s assurance that he will exercise his wisdom and
his sovereignty, he will remember his covenant promises, he will be
faithful, and, through hardship, he will deliver gifts of kindness and
grace to his own. Although the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz
is compelling, the one on center stage is the Lord. Through the
vehicles of hardship and human love, God establishes the direction
of the rest of the redemptive story.

At the end of the story, Ruth and Boaz have a son. We read,
“Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became
his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name,
saying, ‘A son has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David” (Ruth 4:16–17).
These words give us a sense of what this story has been about all
along. God doesn’t just deliver Ruth and unite her to Boaz, but he
delivers to this family a son. This son, Obed, will have a son, Jesse,
and Jesse will have a son, David, and ultimately out of David will
come a son, the Son of David, Jesus. Through this little story of
hardship and love, God sets things in place to deliver something

anything but little: the ultimate promise, the gift of gifts, the Sav-
ior, Jesus Christ, through whom God’s redeeming love will flow.

God will work and continue to work his redeeming plan until
that plan is complete; this is the ultimate story behind every other
story. Remember that it is at the intersection of God’s sovereignty
and his grace that life and hope are to be found.

Prayer

Lord of Heaven, your love is unshakable, unstoppable. I praise you
that you have injected daily reminders of this great truth into my
life. Keep me from ever losing sight of your covenant commitment to
your people—rooted in your faithful and eternal love for your Son,

through whom I pray, amen.