“…the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” Ruth 2:12b

Do you ever feel like events happen in your life for no good reason? I want you to know today that God’s hand is on your life and He can use all of your experiences for your good and the good of others.

Ruth knew to a certain extent that she was leaving behind the gods of her family and country when she decided to follow Naomi back to her homeland.  Back in Ruth 1:16, she told Naomi, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” What she didn’t seem to know was that this God of Israel had also chosen her. Ruth’s choice to walk away from her old life brought her to the very One Who gives new life.

As she worked in Boaz’s field, she was about to find out what it meant to serve the God Who is not made by man. He’s not wood or stone. He made the very materials that the Moabites used to make their own silent gods. As Boaz put it in Ruth 2:12, “May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” While Ruth knew she was leaving her old gods for the God of Israel, I’m not sure she understood that she would be blessed. And it took a man such as Boaz to see her as God saw her. God, in His sovereignty, chose Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, to be Boaz’s mother. His own personal experience helped him see what others could not.

Sometimes God puts us in the path of others because He knows we will see what others are blind to. We will recognize things only because we’ve seen it before from our own painful experiences.

Dear Heavenly Father, Some of the situations that I have been through have been painful and only You have the power to bring any good out of them. I give all of my story to you and ask that you would help me see others with the eyes of someone who has experienced Your redemption. May I never miss anyone that You want me to see. In Jesus Name, Amen