Seen By God | Episode 1658

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional Podcast, episode 1658. Today's Devo is called Seen by God.

Hey there, we're the Alessis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy, the to-do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why every weekday we share a five-minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast.

Hello, everyone. My name is Lauren Burgos, and I know you were not expecting me today. So Stephanie is out of town, and we woke up and realized that the Ruth study was skipped for this week, and we were like, well, that cannot happen. We must know what happens in Ruth chapter two. So actually, um, me, Gabby, and Rochelle are gonna hop in and take over an episode each for Friday because it is important. And I actually take over next week on Ruth three, and it's important that we talk on Ruth chapter two. So if you go back, I would actually really encourage you. Stephanie talks, has like a quick interview with Layla. That's an amazing episode. And she has a full interview with Layla as a bonus episode as part of our My Morning uh Devo membership. But now we're gonna continue on into the study of Ruth. So I'm gonna kind of give us a synopsis of what's happened, and then I'm gonna continue right on with the study. So now we're teaching out of Ruth chapter two. And what has happened is Naomi's uh Ruth has decided to stick with Naomi. We know that by now. But now Ruth is kind of like, okay, well, what do I do? And she sees a field and she's like, I'm just gonna go work in that field. I need something to do. I need to keep, I need to provide. So I'm just gonna work in this field. Well, the random field she decides to work in happens to be a man from the clan of Ali Malik, whatever. Why did I even try to say the clan name? It happens to be Boaz's field. So then she's like, I just got to get to work. I'm not even really thinking about men right now, not on my radar at all. I just got to get to work. So she kind of goes out and Naomi's like, yeah, go ahead. I support you, do what you need to do. Um, and then all of a sudden, I'm just kind of skimming through scripture here, but we see that Boaz looks in the corner of his eyes, he sees Ruth, and he asks his harvesters, who does that young woman belong to? The overseer of his harvesters are like, Oh, she's the Moabite woman that she came with Naomi. Um, and Boaz like takes notice. He's like, Wow, that's kind of like amazing. That's very, very interesting. So we pick up today. I've given you a synop uh synopsis. So we pick up today in verse eight. We're gonna read a bit of scripture, um, verses eight through 13, and it says this. So actually, Boaz now approaches Ruth because he sees her working in his field. He's like, takes notice to her, he finds out she's with Naomi, they're a Moabite women, but he goes up to her and he's like, Hey, so Boaz says to Ruth, My daughter, listen to me, don't go and glean in another field, and don't go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you, and whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled. At this she bowed down with her face to the ground, she asked him, Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me, a foreigner? Boaz replied, I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, how you have left your father and mother in your homeland, and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by God, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. I want to kind of break this scripture down like section by section. Boaz goes up to Ruth, who just happens to be working in his field, she has no idea who this man is. Scripture doesn't mention, but it doesn't seem like Ruth really knows who this man is. And he's like, My daughter, listen to me. You're gonna work here, don't worry about going and working somewhere else, work here. I've asked the man, I've asked the men, do not lay a hand on you. And he's basically telling her, You're gonna work here, you have permission to work here, do not worry about anything happening to you. You're safe here. And if you're thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars that the men have filled. You don't even got to fill your own water jar. The men have filled it, you go and you get water. We're talking about a time where men were treating women differently. And now Boaz is like, I have heard all the things you've done for your mother-in-law right after you lost your husband. You deserve to take a seat, you deserve to relax and you're safe here, don't worry. And right after that, Ruth goes, Well, why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me? I'm not even from here, I'm from somewhere else. And that's when Boaz replies, you know, I've seen what you've done for your mother-in-law, I've heard your stories. But I want to remind us of something. Boaz is not her provider here. The one opening doors for Ruth is not Boaz here. God is Ruth's provider here. God is the one opening doors for Ruth here. That's why this episode is called Seen by God, because Ruth just thinks she's going and working in a small random land, and it happens to be a great godly man, such as Boaz. Ruth just thinks I'm gonna put my head down, no one's gonna notice me, and then Boaz notices her. That's just not Boaz. That's God working through Boaz. And I want to encourage you today. You may think you're in a season where you could just put your head down, nobody notices you, or you're in a space or a season of life where where maybe nobody does notice you and nobody notices the work you have done. Can I encourage you? God notices every little thing you go through. I used to lead um a widow's group here at church, and it was actually one of the greatest things I've got to do in ministry. And it was a sort of a grief group for widows, and it was full of, yes, tears, but it was also full of so much laughter and joy at the same time. And a lot of them just talked about having to carry the load for their households after their husbands passed away, the finances, having to work again, what that transition was like. And I can't help but think of these ladies as we talk about Ruth. How she's like, I'm just gonna put my head down, don't worry about me. And she's probably still grieving her husband and the loss and her father-in-law and her brother-in-law. She's just lost a lot of people. She decides to leave her father and mother. She's like, please don't pay attention to me. I'm gonna put my head down, I'm just gonna work. And maybe that's been you in a season of life. I've just lost somebody, I don't want anybody to pay attention to me. I'm just gonna put my head down and do what I need to do next. That's what Ruth is doing here. And she happens to be doing that in a field owned by Boaz, the man she's going to marry next. And she happens to like take he takes notice to her immediately and not just take notice. He's like, I'm gonna take care of you and I'm gonna keep you safe. But that's just not Boaz, guys, and that's what you need to notice about your life. Yes, you want to keep your head down, but God sees everything. God sees the tears, God sees the grief, God sees the part of you that just wants to get done day by day. You just want to take it step by step and day by day. But God also has taken care of every step along the way for you. God's getting ready to open doors for you. God's getting ready to provide for you because you are seen by God. He has aligned your steps for you, even when it doesn't feel like it, even when it feels like you're Ruth and you've lost everyone, you're like, I don't even know what decision I'm making next. God has aligned your steps for you. And I I love Ruth's response here. She's like, Well, why have you found favor in my eyes? Like, why have you found such favor in your eyes to me, a foreigner? Because God's favor is upon you. And I just want to speak to every person listening to this. God's favor is about to be upon you. You're about to walk in a season of favor and blessing. So go ahead, walk with your head down. Like, don't notice me, it's fine. But God's hand is on you and He's about to provide for you. Just and let me just pray this prayer that Boaz prayed, because this is beautiful. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for the study of Ruth God and how much it teaches us, Lord, just about honor and loyalty and trusting in you, even when we're still learning your character, Lord. But Lord, ultimately, we just we thank you that, Lord, your favor is on us, your hand is on us every step of the way. Even in a season where it feels totally uncertain, even in a season where we don't really want to think about next steps, God, you've already laid out our next steps, and we thank you for that. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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