Tuesday, April 16, 2013


Enlarge Your Vision
By: Charles Steiner



Ruth easily could have played the victim. Woe is me! My husband has died! My father in law has died! My brother in law has died! It’s just me, my mother in law, and my sister in law. What are we going to do now? (Keep in mind this is taking place thousands of years ago when it was not the custom for women to be financial providers). Ruth’s mother in law Naomi had a very negative attitude and even blamed God for her misfortune (1:13, 20-21). She encouraged her daughter in laws to go back to their home towns and families to start life over again (1:8b-14). Orpah did as Naomi suggested, but Ruth believed in Naomi and was loyal to her saying “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God (1:16 ESV).” 

Because Ruth had a larger vision for what God could do, God blessed her more than Naomi and Orpah. Orpah went back to her home town and returned to the practice of worshiping false gods (1:15) and according to the writings of Jewish Rabbis became the mother of the philistine giant Goliath. Naomi was physically taken care of and was blessed with a grandson (4:13), but she thought she was to old to marry again or have children (1:11-12). I wonder if she had faith in God’s power, would he have blessed her with a husband and children. But what about Ruth? Though Ruth was not a Jew, she continued to worship and obey the commandments of the one true God, was loyal to her mother in law Naomi, and believed she would be blessed. The result? God blessed her with a rich Godly man named Boaz whom she had her son Obed with. And Obed became the grandfather of King David and was in the genealogy of Jesus, the savior of the world. Did Ruth just happen to be working in Boaz’s field? Did Boaz just happen to walk out into that particular field and meet his future wife Ruth? Was this just luck? I think not. God was that very day causing all things to work together for good for a woman who loved him and was called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). 

God can do the same for you. Have you recently gone through pain, suffering, the loss of a loved one, or other adversities? Have a positive attitude, and believe in God’s ability to turn things around in your life. If you put your faith in God, and obey his commandments, God will bless you and your life will turn around for the better. Enlarge your vision of what God can do. 

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