BIG IDEA || God rules over His hurting people even if His actions are normally hidden from them. The Book of Ruth holds in tension two seemingly opposite truths we face in our human lives: Our Pain & God’s Providence Naomi’s empty . Ruth 1:13 (NLT) “Things are far more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord himself has raised his fist against me.” Ruth 1:20–21 (NLT) 20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?” God is also working behind her painful misfortune God’s hidden hand of . Ruth 1:14–17 (NLT) 14 And again they wept together, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye. But Ruth clung tightly to Naomi. 15 “Look,” Naomi said to her, “your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. You should do the same.” 16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” God’s hidden hand of . Ruth 2:19–22 (NLT) 19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!” So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.” 20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.” 21 Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.” 22 “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.” Don’t miss the way God’s loving you through people. Remember that if or when God disciplines you, He always sends exactly what you need to flourish. CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: 1. How did we see God’s hidden hand changing the circumstances of Naomi and Ruth? 2. What encouragement might this story give you for your present or upcoming life circumstances? 3. Who are the people God seems to be sending you to express his lovingkindness & providence?