"I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." Ruth 2:11b & 12 (NLT)
Last spring the school district I worked in laid off or transferred many employees. Toward the end of the school year, I was told I was one of the teachers transferring schools. Although I knew a job cut or a transfer was a possibility, I was still shocked when I found out I was among the transfers.
I told myself to focus on the positives. I still had a job. My family was healthy. God can use all things for good. But honestly, inside, all I could think was how this situation just stunk! I was working really hard where I was. I was putting a lot of thought into my work. Didn't anyone notice? Didn't this hard work have any pay off?
In the book of Ruth, Ruth shows great faithfulness to her mother-in-law Naomi by traveling with her back to Bethlehem. But she doesn't stop there. Ruth then takes it upon herself to do the hard work of gathering grain in the fields for herself and aging Naomi.
Ruth begins to harvest in a field belonging to kindly Boaz. On her first day of harvesting, Boaz just happens to show up to oversee his fields. Boaz takes notice of Ruth and graciously tells her she can stay with his harvesters and gather their grain, drink their water and not be bothered.
Ruth, overcome by his kindness, asks why he is being so good to her. Our key verse is his reply, "I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully." Ruth 2:11b & 12
Boaz heard of Ruth's faithfulness to her mother-in-law. He noticed her hard work in his fields. He rewarded her with kindness and eventually marriage and a beautiful baby boy, Obed.
But not just Boaz noticed Ruth's faithfulness and hard work. God noticed. And God not only blessed her with the earthly rewards, He rewarded her fully with an ancestry line so rich with descendants our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would be born through it. Praise God!
We all know what it's like to feel our hard work goes unnoticed, whether it be at a job, home or church. The desire for earthly recognition and rewards can be strong and has the potential to overtake our thoughts and attitudes.
Let's do our best to remain faithful like Ruth, to take refuge under the wings of our God despite our circumstances. He who shelters you and keeps care over you will notice. And the Lord who notices will never fail to fully reward.
Lord, I do my best to work hard at my job, at home and at church. Thanks for noticing. Please help me to do this work for you and not for earthly recognition. Help me to remain faithful like Ruth in all things. Amen.
This post is also featured on the Getting Real Ministries blog.
