God's Amazing Sovereignty

Scripture:
Ruth 1:16 — “But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.’”
 
Observation:
Ruth was not required or obliged to give any allegiance to Naomi. Naomi had no more sons to offer and wouldn’t be able to have any more sons that Ruth could marry. Therefore, Ruth had the freedom to return to her home with her family where she still had the opportunity to marry and start a family of her own. Yet she chose to stay with Naomi even though it appeared that Naomi would live out the rest of her life in depression due to the assumption that God was against her. In looking at what becomes of Ruth’s life it is obvious that God’s sovereignty was all over her as she goes on to be one of the four women that is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Application:
By being one of God’s children, I can see where his sovereign hand has been all over my life. Otherwise, my purpose and direction for my life would have superseded his and I would not be living for him today. Even though I have the ability to make my own choices, God is the ultimate Good Father and out of his love for me, he wants me to experience the fullness of this life. And he knows that only happens when I live for the purpose He has created me for. Therefore He will guide and direct my life in a way that allows me the opportunity to experience the goodness that comes from living under the umbrella of his will and purpose for my life.
 
Prayer:
Father God, You are a good father. You have taken care of me even when I acted like I wasn’t a child of yours. Thank you for your continued love and for not removing your hand from my life. Forgive me for my unfaithfulness. Unlike Naomi, you have everything to offer me, but may my devotion to you be not based on what you can give me but based on what you have already given through your sacrificial love in the death of Christ. As I look to become a father, may I love my children out of the grace and mercy that you extend through your love for me. And may your hand be on their life as it always has been on mine.

— Jared Yates, small groups pastor, college & single adults, Reservoir campus