Ruth 2:17—22 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she bet out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal. “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.” “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.” Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.” “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you will be safe with him.”
Ruth was a stranger in her dead husband’s land. She was not one of my chosen children. Yet, I showed her kindness. I made sure she was able to gather all the grain she needed to live. I put her in a place where she would be safe from harm. I fed her, gave her to drink and in all ways provided for her. I appointed one of my children, Boaz, to be her kinsman redeemer – a privilege she was granted via marriage, not birth. And a marriage that was, technically, over since her husband had died. Ruth did not know me. Yet I took care of her. How much more so will I take care of you? Do you fear for what is ahead? So did Ruth when she lost her husband. Are you nervous by not knowing what is going to happen in your world? So was Ruth when she chose to leave everything and everyone she knew to go with her mother-in-law Naomi and be faithful to her. Can you be sure that you will have all you need to survive the coming days? Outside of me, no. But you know me. You have seen my faithfulness, my love, my protection, my care, my guidance – you have seen and personally experienced all of that for many years. Do not allow your enemy to distract you. Do not allow your enemy to sow doubt in your heart. Do not allow your enemy to take your eyes off of me. Yes, it is dark in your world. It is growing darker. Yes, things are evil. What is happening is unbelievable – you can not and do not understand how people can act as they are, how so many are so blind, how so many embrace darkness and evil deeds. Yet, here is your world. It is under the control, for the most part, of your enemy. But do not despair. I am aware. I am. Not surprised by any of it. I am not caught off guard. And I am still, at the core of it all, in control. But more importantly, right at his moment, you have much more control than you know or understand. I have given you all power. I have put this world, the evil surrounding you, your enemy – I have given you the power needed to take back your world. Trust that. Develop that. Create the armies that are needed to combat this evil. This is a spiritual battle, and you are perfectly equipped if you are a believer, if you have my Holy Spirit, if you have given your trust and life to me. Develop those gifts. They are key to saving what is left of your culture, your Nation, your world and – ultimately, mankind.
Amanuensis 