The significance of Ruth’s seemingly random decision to glean in that particular field, at that particular time on that particular day demonstrates that Ruth’s steps were ordered by God, and we are soon to discover that this meeting will have a significant impact not only the future welfare of both Ruth and Naomi but on God’s unfolding story of redemption. 

So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” Ruth 2:3-4

I once heard it said that our lives are like one big tapestry, the back of it is a series of messy strands and knots. The jumble of threads is all the difficult and challenging circumstances we go through, the heart break, the hurts, the frustrations, the doubting of God’s goodness, the short-lived successes, and the mundane times. What we need to remember is there are two sides to the tapestry, we might not be able to makes sense of the back, but God is the master weaver who is producing a glorious picture on the front using the good, the bad and the ugly threads of our lives to produce his masterpiece.

The Book of Ruth is the story of two women who experienced their fair share of twisted knots, frayed edges, and difficult circumstances. After the death of her husband and two sons, Naomi returns home to Bethlehem destitute, broken hearted and bitter. Accompanied by her loyal (Moabite) daughter in law Ruth, the two women seek to forge a new life in the city known as the “House of Bread”.

In the second chapter of the book, we read of Ruth seeking to glean some left-over crops in an Israelite field. It just so happens the field belonged to a man named Boaz. What a coincidence! What a stroke of luck!

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