Seek refuge
“May the LORD reward your work, and your wages be full from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to seek refuge.” Ruth 2:12
Seek refuge – God has some very big plans in the works. So big that you and I might wonder what part we could ever play. We are nobodies. We aren’t the big names of the world, the movers and shakers on the stage. We’re just the small people, the ones that no one every heard of. And that’s why we love Ruth. In the vast plans of God, the story of Ruth paints a picture of care over the lost souls of history. Ruth tells us that God works everyone into His plans even if we don’t know anything about most of the players. Ruth reminds us that the meaning of our existence is not found in what happens today. It is found in what God is doing through us for tomorrow.
Ruth is an unbeliever, an outsider and a stranger in difficulty. But notice what Boaz says about her. Her status and circumstances do not matter. What matters is this: she sought refuge under the God of Israel. If you learn nothing else from the life of this woman, learn this: God is our refuge.
Have you been a stranger in the land? Were you an outsider to the house of God? Did you see the world through the eyes of despair and discouragement? Have you known the aches and pains of want? Then Ruth is your guide. Do you suppose Jesus thought of Ruth when he said, “I was a stranger and you took me in, hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink”. The story of Ruth is the story of our desperation and God’s compassion. Ruth reveals to me the heart of a God who cares in spite of my unworthiness. Ruth gives me hope because I need refuge too. And Ruth tells me something even more important. God includes me.
The Hebrew word hasa does not condemn me for my helplessness or castigate me for my insufficiency. Seeking refuge receives divine endorsement. God wants me to run to Him. The world may say, “What’s your problem? Stand on your own two feet. Pull yourself up.” But God does not demand such behavior. God opens His arms and welcomes us, strangers, suffering and helpless. Oh, God, how glad I am to hear this message.
