Following out the Plan

by: Michael Wilcock

Ruth was able to follow Naomi’s instructions in detail because everything worked out just as Naomi reckoned it would.

God was behind it, of course. You can look at the works of an old pocket watch and be pretty sure that they didn’t come together by accident. In the same way, Christians can often see how beautifully the circumstances of their lives fit together and they know, when they see it, that God is at work.

Some of the plan was already in Naomi’s mind. She knew that though many reaped, fewer would thresh, and only one would stay overnight at the threshing place to guard the grain; and this night it was Boaz’s turn.

So he would be on his own, away from home. It would be an ideal time for Ruth to make the approach that Naomi had in mind. This part of the plan was Naomi’s. Boaz knew nothing of it yet. Ruth simply had to do as she was told.

But it was God who had set things up in this way. From his point of view, more was riding on this encounter than even Naomi could have imagined. The result of the plan had to be left to him. He would see to it.