E55 - Hope’s Harbor Gritty Bible Devotions - Ruth - Boaz Takes Action - Part 5

Hope’s Harbor

Gritty Bible Devotions

Episode #55

Title: Ruth’s Actions motivate Boaz to take Action – Part 5

Date: May 23, 2022

Contact: info@hopesharbor.net

Key verse(s): Ruth 3:8 – ‘Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.’

Intro: When Naomi heard how Boaz looked after Ruth on that first day they met, she encouraged Ruth to stay with the servants of Boaz, as he requested. And she did so until the end of barley harvest.

Devotion focus: It takes Action

Recently I read in a financial book the reason so many people don’t do anything about suffocating debt is because they are too comfortable to change, to take action necessary to cut debt. They don’t want to do the work.

I’ve read elsewhere that people normally don’t make even positive changes to their lives unless suffering overtakes them, forcing them to make changes in order to alleviate pain.

I know these are true observations having experienced the conditions of both being too comfortable to make changes, and only making changes after disaster catches up to me because I let harmful practices go on too long.

In Ruth’s life, she could have stayed in her comfort zone of living with Naomi, gleaning grain and any other work she could find, and not trying anything else different.

Is it possible for a young widow living in a foreign land to even have the hope to remarry if she wanted to? Any change could bring about a traumatic consequence. She already took a huge risk when she left her home country to follow Naomi to Israel and live.

She had relative safety living with someone she knew and loved. She had a relatively good chance of providing food by working in the fields of a man who noticed her and made allowances for her to get plenty of food from her work.

It seems to me Ruth could have played it safe and made no changes. To settle for the good, and miss the best.

What does that mean? It means the human tendency is to play it safe and settle for less than GOD intends for us to have in life.

Let me ask you about your prayers for yourself. What do they center on? What is the common theme?

In Eph 3:19 & 20 Paul is praying for believers. Listen to what he wants them to know:

Eph 3:19 – ‘to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Eph 3:20 - ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us…’

I heard it said vs 20 could read, ‘above all that we do ask or think…’ The thought is we don’t ask as we should. And why not?

I believe it goes back to being too comfortable with the way things are. We don’t want to ‘rock the boat.’

Let’s go back to Ruth and the key verse, Ruth 3:8 – ‘Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.’

Ruth took action based on Naomi’s instructions to present herself to Boaz for marriage, according to the cultural way they did things in those days.

In doing so Ruth risked rejection. She could have reasoned there was no way a wealthy man with a good reputation would marry a foreign woman.

Think about this with me: Do you think it possible when Ruth and Boaz first met there was chemistry between them? Just consider it.

I know men think of logistics, knowledge, and benefits when taking into consideration a serious relationship. Women tend to think of the relational aspect that men tend to miss, even though there are other important considerations connected to marriage. Or there had better be. We all know someone who ignored the importance of taking into account factors of personalities, compatibility, and stability, just to name a few. The result of hasty decisions based purely on emotions very often leads to excruciating pain.

However, with Ruth and Boaz, the Biblical record reveals they both considered the other and said so.

Ruth 2:11 – ‘And Boaz answered and said to her, "It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done…”’

Ruth 2:13 – ‘Then she said, "Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants."’

Summary: When Ruth took the action suggested by Naomi and went to the threshing floor to present herself to Boaz for marriage, it wasn’t a blind act of obedience.

Her experiences with Boaz and his generosity and protection surely helped her have faith in the man.

Boaz’s reactions to Ruth that night at the threshing floor surely came about from him witnessing her faithfulness to work hard throughout the barely harvest. He had faith in Ruth which led to his next actions.

Action to consider: What are you facing that you want, even need, to take action on? Will you sit down and write out what that action needs to be? Will you plan on how to take that action?

Will it help to have someone you trust to help you through the process of making a change?

Let me encourage you to write out what you want and write down any options that come to mind. I like making a bulleted list on one side of the page and another list opposite of what are the likely things to hinder me in making the change I want/need.

Beware of the common trend of waiting for change to happen without any action on your part. Not making a decision to take action is a decision…

To do nothing -

Next week’s devotion: Ruth – The Legacy – Part 5