“Baba” and Ruth: Handfuls of Purpose

Photo by Forest & Kim Starr 2008

Have you ever noticed how God provides exactly what you need, exactly when you need it? As I have described previously, my grandmother Baba endured many hardships and trials, but God was faithful in caring for His daughter, giving Baba blessings and opportunities she could not have begun to imagine.

Just as in the example of Ruth, for whom God provided through His servant Boaz, near-kinsman of Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi, God arranged for handfuls of blessings to fall across Baba’s path. These would serve to work everything out according to His purpose (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28), which had been foreordained since the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4).

These “handfuls of purpose” (Ruth 2:16) represent the visible, tangible clues of His working in our lives, even though most of His master plan is invisible to us (Isaiah 55:9) until long after we have gratefully accepted these blessings along the way, and may not even be fully manifest until we see Him face to face in glory (1 Corinthians 13:12).

For Baba, these blessings included God’s leading her to a Russian-Ukrainian community in Manhattan’s lower East Side where she could feel more at home with people of her nationality, language and culture; support from a loving church family; employment where through hard work she could support herself and my mother; and the friendship of an older man who offered her a second job and entrance into the Social Security system.

For Ruth, these “handfuls of purpose” were literally handfuls of barley that Boaz instructed his men to leave for her as they harvested, without shooing her away, so that she could glean behind them and not go home empty-handed. But God does not give us blessings for us to hoard them, but rather so that we can be a channel through whom blessings flow (Luke 6:38). As our former (late) pastor used to say, “God will give much more through you than He will to you.”

Through the opportunities God provided for Baba, she was able not only to support herself and my mother on her very modest income, but also to give sacrificially to her church, even donating money for the large oil painting of Ruth gleaning in the fields of Boaz that adorned the church wall. And Ruth did not work hard just to fill her own belly, but also to feed her aging mother-in-law Naomi (Ruth 2:17-18).

But this was just the beginning of God’s marvelous provision. He had led Ruth specifically to the fields of Boaz, an honorable, God-fearing man who recognized and admired her faithfulness to God and to provide for her mother-in-law. Like her sister Orpah, Ruth could have been freed from any responsibility to Naomi once her husband had died. But in contrast to Orpah, who returned home to her birth family and their pagan worship, Ruth left behind the false gods of her youth and dedicated herself to Naomi and their one, true Jehovah God.

When Ruth told Naomi of Boaz’ hospitality to her, Naomi may have glimpsed the grand plan God was unveiling (Jeremiah 29:11). She praised Boaz for his kindness to them, and by extension, to his honoring their dead husbands, and she informed Ruth that Boaz was actually a close relative of hers (Ruth 2:19-20). She counseled Ruth to glean only in the fields of Boaz, so that he would realize her loyalty to and dependence on Him (Ruth 2:21-23).

As Boaz is an Old Testament foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, this is a good reminder for His children, who have been saved by our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), to do the same. We should realize that He is the only Source of all blessings (James 1:17), and look only to Him to provide; we should be faithful to Him alone; and we should realize that without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

© 2018 Laurie Collett

 

“Baba” and Ruth: From Bitterness to Trust

As we saw in our first post of the story of Ruth, and of some parallels in that story to the life of my grandmother “Baba,” trials often bring us to an important crossroads: rebel against God, or follow Him. When Ruth’s husband, and that of her sister Orpah and mother-in-law Naomi, died in the pagan nation of Moab, Ruth chose to follow Naomi back to her home in Bethlehem, to be faithful not only to Naomi, but also to the true Jehovah God they both served (Ruth 1:1-18).

After Baba’s husband and nine of her ten children died in Nova Scotia, they did not return to Baba’s place of origin in the Ukraine, but instead moved to a Russian community in Manhattan’s lower East Side. Both Ruth and Baba had to trust God despite additional trials and the need for hard work.

Once Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem, Naomi’s family was happy to see her, but she expressed her bitterness that God had dealt so harshly with her, taking the lives of her husband and sons (Ruth 1:19-21). Ruth would have to become the breadwinner for both of them by hard work in the fields of Boaz, Naomi’s relative and therefore Ruth’s nearest kinsman by marriage (Ruth 2:1-3).

Baba had never learned to read or write, and she spoke only a few halting words of English, so her job opportunities were extremely limited. Still, she had to provide for herself and for my mother, and she was not afraid of hard work. She found a job at a local bakery, where she went to work at 5:30 AM six days a week. But the job had its perks, including bringing home cookies and pastries that were left over at the end of the day!

Although Baba could have justifiably complained about her hard life, I believe she had the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) and joy in her salvation (Psalm 35:9). Like her husband who had gone home to Jesus before her, I believe that Baba had trusted in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6).

God’s plan for Ruth, predestined since before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:5,11), was a plan of peace and not of evil (Jeremiah 29:11). The blessing He gave her of leading her to the fields of Boaz was only the beginning of His reward for her faithfulness. Boaz admired Ruth’s dedication and faith, offering her the opportunity to glean exclusively in his fields, feeding her as she worked, and arranging for his men to leave handfuls of barley behind them as they worked his fields, so that Ruth could gather extra to feed herself and Naomi (Ruth 2:1-18).

Boaz assured Ruth, “The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.” (v. 12)

Boaz, who is an Old Testament foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, showed abundant grace and mercy to Ruth even though she was a stranger to his people and she had come from a pagan nation worshipping false gods. Thankfully, God has opened the plan of salvation to all peoples, to whosoever will believe in His Son (John 3:16; Romans 1:16; 10:12) and be saved by His grace (Ephesians 2:7-10).

Baba’s new church community in New York supported her in love and prayer and helped to bear her burdens (Galatians 6:2), for they appreciated her diligence, character, and faithfulness to her fellow believers. She became a sister in the church and contributed her time and service to its ministry. Through the church, she met a well-to-do and kindly older man who hired her for janitorial work in his office building and arranged for her to be enrolled in Social Security.

It is amazing how God brings just the right people into our lives at just the right time, to accomplish His purpose for us. God will always reward faithfulness, obedience, and trust in Him by providing for our physical needs (Psalm 37:25; Matthew 6:25-34) and blessing us spiritually beyond measure!

No matter what hardships we may endure in this life, God’s children can rejoice always (Philippians 4:4), knowing that we will spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus and our loved ones in Him, enjoying the Heavenly City (Hebrews 11:16; 12:22), our glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-58), and even our own mansions He has specially prepared for us (John 14:2-3). You can’t outgive God, as both Ruth and Baba discovered, and as we shall explore further in our next post!

© 2018 Laurie Collett