What A Coincidence?
Scripture: Ruth 2:2-3
2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech."
Observations:
In the Old Testament the Bible includes the story of a woman named Ruth in a book which bears her name. She and her mother-in-law Naomi had fallen on some pretty hard times with the death of her husband and father-in-law. Not knowing where to turn in their grief, they decided to move back home to the land of Israel, Naomi's homeland. Despite the fact that they were in dire straits with nothing and no one to sustain them, they did the best they could with what they had. Ruth, still a young woman, became the bread-winner (literally, by gathering grain in field). The book of Ruth is full of several amazing "coincidences" in the fact that their husbands died at the exact time they did, they moved back to the exact place that they did, Ruth worked in the exact field that she did, encountered the exact person she did (who just so happened to be related to her family), and gained the specific favor that she did. All coincidences? Nope. It was God at work in the day-to-day normal routines of life that nobody but He suspected. It was all part of God's plan to bring into the picture the great grand father of King David, the ancient ancestor of Jesus Christ (whom God had been planning to usher into the world since before the foundation of the world- John 1:1; Revelation 13:8)
Application:
God's plans, though at times they seem virtually non-existent and often times mundane, are never a coincidence. When Scripture says that "all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), it's not just talk. This is good news for us. The fact that God does nothing on accident assures us that His plans carry purpose. Secondly, because God's Word promises us that His plans for each of us are "good" (Jeremiah 29:11), it's always possible for us to conclude that even in difficult situations God is still working behind the scences on our behalf. Even when it seems like things "just happen", nothing ever was or is just a coincidence- everything (both good and bad) is all part of His plan and His work for our ultimate good. God's Word promises us that He "will never leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5) no matter what. Give it enough time, and you will eventually be able to look back and see that "He makes all things beautiful, in HIS time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Prayer:
Father, thank You for seeing further than we do and understand more than we can comprehend. Help us to continue to trust You even when we do not see and when it feels like life doesn't make sense and to put our hope in Your plan for our lives today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.” Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech."
Observations:
In the Old Testament the Bible includes the story of a woman named Ruth in a book which bears her name. She and her mother-in-law Naomi had fallen on some pretty hard times with the death of her husband and father-in-law. Not knowing where to turn in their grief, they decided to move back home to the land of Israel, Naomi's homeland. Despite the fact that they were in dire straits with nothing and no one to sustain them, they did the best they could with what they had. Ruth, still a young woman, became the bread-winner (literally, by gathering grain in field). The book of Ruth is full of several amazing "coincidences" in the fact that their husbands died at the exact time they did, they moved back to the exact place that they did, Ruth worked in the exact field that she did, encountered the exact person she did (who just so happened to be related to her family), and gained the specific favor that she did. All coincidences? Nope. It was God at work in the day-to-day normal routines of life that nobody but He suspected. It was all part of God's plan to bring into the picture the great grand father of King David, the ancient ancestor of Jesus Christ (whom God had been planning to usher into the world since before the foundation of the world- John 1:1; Revelation 13:8)
Application:
God's plans, though at times they seem virtually non-existent and often times mundane, are never a coincidence. When Scripture says that "all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28), it's not just talk. This is good news for us. The fact that God does nothing on accident assures us that His plans carry purpose. Secondly, because God's Word promises us that His plans for each of us are "good" (Jeremiah 29:11), it's always possible for us to conclude that even in difficult situations God is still working behind the scences on our behalf. Even when it seems like things "just happen", nothing ever was or is just a coincidence- everything (both good and bad) is all part of His plan and His work for our ultimate good. God's Word promises us that He "will never leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5) no matter what. Give it enough time, and you will eventually be able to look back and see that "He makes all things beautiful, in HIS time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Prayer:
Father, thank You for seeing further than we do and understand more than we can comprehend. Help us to continue to trust You even when we do not see and when it feels like life doesn't make sense and to put our hope in Your plan for our lives today. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading Plan
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