Trust God and Get Going
Sunday, July 12, 2026
Pastor Jojo Ma
Weekly Bulletin | Song Lyrics | Nicene Creed
Ruth 2
Chapter 1 “The Weeping Chapter”
Chapter 2 “The Working Chapter”
1:22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her…And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.
Don’t forget the big idea of this small Old Testament book: God rules over His people, even if His actions are often hidden from us.
He remains sovereign over everything in your life, and He remains good in His plans for your life.
1 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband’s, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”
2 Thes 3:10 If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
Parents, train up your children with a good work ethic.
4 And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they answered, “The LORD bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman, who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab.” 7 She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.” So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest.
Notice he doesn’t say, “Who is she?” He asks, “Whose is she? To whom does she belong? What clan or family does she belong to? Is she married?”
Ruth, an outsider, from an enemy nation, is lovingly embraced and provided for and blessed. Again, another picture of the gospel: we as outsiders, sinners, enemies of God, are embraced and welcomed to the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
15 When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” 17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she took it up and went into the city. Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
It’s great if someone is good-looking. It’s much better if he or she is godly-looking.
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.” 23 So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
The Hebrew word ‘hesed’ can be translated ‘covenant faithfulness’.
20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers.”
A kinsman-redeemer was required to buy back his relatives if they fell into debt and had to sell themselves into slavery (Lev 25). And under certain circumstances, the kinsman-redeemer also had an obligation to marry the widow and raise up a child for a brother who had died childless (Deut 25).
Boaz wasn’t primarily concerned with the obligations of the law; his heart was bound by the law of love.
1. Put off worry and trust God.
How many times each week do you conjure up bad scenarios about your life? How much time do you spend thinking about the unpleasant things that could happen. How much unnecessary worry and anxiety do you put yourself through?
God never promises to give you the grace to survive all the worries you think of; He promises to give you enough grace for whatever He actually brings into your life.
Phil 4:5-6 The Lord is at hand; [therefore] do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
If you have time to worry, you have time to pray. So practice putting off worry and instead trust God.
2. Trust God…and get going.
Ruth is modeling godly faith: a heart that trusts God for her life, and hands that work hard in her life.
“Faith doesn’t simply sit around waiting for provision to drop down from heaven. We are called to do what we can, and as we do, to trust that God will provide for our needs.”
Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort.
3. Be like Boaz, see like Boaz.
Do we welcome outsiders like Ruth, people who might not naturally fit in our community?
We all have eyes, but do we see like Boaz?
Boaz had been transformed by God’s lovingkindness, God’s ‘hesed’, and it rubbed off in his life in so many ways to others, even outsiders.
In the gospel, Jesus pays the debt we owe, and frees us from our self-inflicted slavery, and redeems us, bringing us to God. We see God’s ultimate expression of ‘hesed’ in Christ Jesus our Lord.