God is Always Working even When We Cannot "SEE IT"!

Ruth 4:13 New International Version (NIV)

Naomi Gains a Son

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his life. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.

Mon. November 23

In the story of Ruth God is only said to be directly involved twice. That is pretty incredible if you stop and think about it. An entire book of the Bible only mentions God’s activity twice. Once when God ended the famine (Ruth 1:6) and here, when, as the ESV translates, the Lord “gave her conception.” Throughout the rest of the book of Ruth, God is involved, but “behind the scenes” making sure things just “happen” to “turn out” for good (see Ruth 2:3). This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). We have faith in what we hear, which is God’s Word of promise and blessing. We do not always “see” what God is doing. In fact, what we “see” might completely contradict what we have heard from God. But here, when God “gave [Ruth] conception,” He was doing more than just turning her frown upside down. God was using Ruth to continue the ancestral line through which Jesus would be born. We “see” no way, but God works in and through people like Ruth to fulfill his promise and bless all people with forgiveness in Jesus.