The book of Ruth is only four chapters long, but within those chapters is one of the most beautiful pictures of God’s providence found in Scripture. It reminds us that sometimes the chapter that empties our hands is not the chapter that ends our story.
Ruth’s story begins during a famine. Elimelech, his wife, Naomi, and their two sons left Bethlehem and traveled to Moab. What was intended to be a temporary stay became a season of tremendous sorrow. Elimelech died, leaving Naomi a widow. Her sons, Mahlon and Chilion, married two Moabite women named Ruth and Orpah. Then both sons died as well.
Naomi had left Bethlehem with a husband and two sons. Now all three were gone. Ruth had also lost the husband with whom she expected to build her future.
There was no Boaz yet. There was no field. There were no “handfuls of purpose.”
There was only loss.
That is important because we know something Ruth did not know—we know how the story ends. We can turn from Ruth chapter one to chapter four. Ruth could not. Neither can we turn ahead several chapters in our own lives.
Naomi eventually heard that the famine in Bethlehem had ended and decided to return home. She encouraged Ruth and Orpah to remain in Moab. Orpah returned, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi.
She made that famous declaration in Ruth 1:16: “Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
Ruth did not know what awaited her in Bethlehem. She simply took the next step.
When Naomi arrived home, she told the people, “I went out full, and the LORD hath brought me home again empty.”
Humanly speaking, we understand why she felt that way. But while Naomi was saying she had returned empty, Ruth was standing beside her. Naomi could not yet see what God was going to do through the person who remained.
Soon Ruth went into the fields to glean enough grain for herself and Naomi. Ruth 2:3 tells us that “her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz.”
To Ruth, it may have seemed coincidental. From Heaven’s perspective, God was working.
Boaz noticed Ruth. He showed her kindness, protected her, provided for her and instructed his workers to leave “handfuls of purpose” for her.
Eventually Naomi realized that Boaz was a near kinsman who could serve as a kinsman-redeemer. Boaz would ultimately marry Ruth and God would give them a son named Obed.
If the story ended there, it would already be beautiful. But God was doing something far greater.
Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David. Ruth, the Moabite widow who once stood beside a grave wondering what her future held, became the great-grandmother of King David. Generations later, Ruth’s name appears in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Ruth saw a funeral. God saw a future.
Ruth saw what she had lost. God saw what He was going to do.
Ruth saw an ending. God saw a beginning.
Perhaps you are living in a chapter you do not understand. Something has changed. Something has ended. Your plans have not worked out the way you expected.
Remember: Ruth chapter one was not Ruth chapter four.
We cannot promise that every earthly loss will be replaced or every sorrow reversed. But we can know that God remains faithful, even when we cannot understand what He is doing.
When you cannot see the whole road, take the next step with God.
When your hands feel empty, keep trusting Him.
The chapter that empties your hands may not be the chapter that ends your story.
You cannot see chapter four from chapter one— but God can.
Jimmy Barrett is a resident of Blackshear and pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Waycross.
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