1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Daily Bible Verse, 2 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: the podcast that examines one verse each day to learn 3 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: more about God and his will for our lives. I'm 4 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: your host, Kyle Norman. After a brief message form one 5 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: of our sponsors, we will continue with today's verse. Today's 6 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: verse can be found in Ruth, Chapter two, Verse three. 7 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: Ruth came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. 8 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: As it happened, she came to the part of the 9 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: a limelec. If you ever heard the phrase a coincidence 11 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: is God's way of staying in anonymous. I had a 12 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: youth leader once who loved to recite that phrase famously. 13 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,759 Speaker 1: The quote is attributed to Albert Einstein, although there's no 14 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: evidence he said that. But regardless of where this adage 15 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: comes from, there is some truth to this, isn't there? 16 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: And it is a good thing to remember for our 17 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: lives of faith, because unfortunately we don't always see the 18 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: hand of God front and central in our lives. I 19 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: don't know about you. When I read the Bible, I 20 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: read a lot about people who witness magnificent manifestations of 21 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: divine might. There's Moses and David, Elizabeth and Mary. God 22 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: was visually present and active. People heard God's voice, they 23 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: saw God's hand, and they witnessed amazing things. And I 24 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,080 Speaker 1: have to be honest at times these stories create a 25 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: certain frustration for my own life because I don't always 26 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: see the same thing as I muddle around through my life. 27 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: I don't see miracles or majesties erupt around me, but 28 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: I do see coincidences. Could it be that the random 29 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: happenstances of our lives that occur seemingly out of the 30 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: blue are actually the hand of God moving and directing 31 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: our days. We see this in the Book of Ruth. 32 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: Ruth is one of the great heroines of the Bible. 33 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 1: Her story of faithfulness to Naomi during unimaginable loss is 34 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: both courageous and inspiring. Ruth ventures off into an unknown 35 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: land and crafts for herself a new life. She marries 36 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 1: Boaz and begins a new family. Scripture then follows Ruth's 37 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: story through her son Obed, grandson of Jesse and great 38 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: grandson of David. And through it all, however, God appears absent. 39 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: The Book of Ruth is unique within the scripture because 40 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: unlike other books, yahweh appears to have no role or 41 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: no voice. We never read the words, and God said 42 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: to Ruth. There's no voice moving from the clouds. There's 43 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: no angelic visitors that descend upon Ruth. For all intents 44 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: and purposes, God appears absent. And because of this, one 45 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: might assume that the Book of Ruth has nothing to 46 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: say about God's presence in our lives. It's merely an 47 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: inspiring tale of human resilience. But we would be wrong, 48 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: because God is present, although hidden. This hiddenness is incredibly important, 49 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: as it testifies to the constancy of God's presence and 50 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: the assurance of God's plan even when we don't see it. 51 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: Through Ruth's own life, God subtly weaves the furtherance of 52 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: the divine will. The clearest example of this is found 53 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: in the second chapter. At this point, Ruth has journeyed 54 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: to Judo Naomi. With an almost spur of the moment impulse, 55 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: Ruth decides to glean some of the reathings of grain 56 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: in a nearby field. Scripture records Ruth came and gleaned 57 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: in the field behind the reapers, and as it happened, 58 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, 59 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: who was of the family of Alimelech. A first glance, 60 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: this appears to be an amazing stroke of luck, and 61 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: God's presence can easily be missed here as it is 62 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: reduced to simply three words, as it happened, this phrase 63 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: conveys nothing less than the full weight of God's activity. 64 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: God weaves together God's own purpose and will through the 65 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz. Ruth's presence in Boaz's 66 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: field is not brought about by coincidence or happenstance, but 67 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: by the mighty activity of God. God's hand was working 68 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: in Ruth to bring her to that precise fel on 69 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: that precise day, at that precise time, to meet her 70 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: future husband. If Ruth had been delayed a few hours, 71 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: that encounter would never have occurred. Not only did Boaz 72 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: just happen to be in the field at the given time, 73 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: but he also happened to be the individual with the 74 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: right to redeem Ruth and make her his wife. God 75 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: often works in the background of our lives. God subtly 76 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: shapes the course of our lives, nudging us in certain 77 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: directions and bringing people in and out of our lives, 78 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: and all these things take place to further God's purposes 79 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: for us. Of course, we may never be fully aware 80 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: of how or why such things occur because they remain hidden. Still, 81 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: what we might consider random or coincidental might in fact 82 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: testify to the intricacy of God's plan. What are the 83 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: happenstances that are occurring around you other coincidences that you 84 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: might be tempted to dismiss. Did someone that you've been 85 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: thinking about just happen to come across your path? Did 86 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: you just find yourself in the right place at the 87 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,599 Speaker 1: right time in order to engage in activity that you 88 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,799 Speaker 1: had a heart for. What might happen if you lean 89 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: into these things thinking of them not as coincidences but 90 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: of divine appointments. God's activity is discern true faith. We 91 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: don't always experience fiery pillars or burning bushes, yet God 92 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: is always with us. An active relationship with God calls 93 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: us to this unyielding belief that God is present despite 94 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: what we might or might not see, Because God is 95 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: never doing nothing till the next time that you might 96 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: be tempted to dismiss something as mere happenstance. I pray 97 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: that you are able to pause and rejoice because in 98 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: that moment, God is doing something special.