In the story of Ruth, the women set off from Moab for Bethlehem. One daughter-in-law Orpah stays in Moab, choosing to return to her father’s house. Naomi doesn’t seem to have hurried off to her homeland when she is left without husband or son, instead it appears that she goes back when she hears of the end of the drought which had driven her family away, while Ruth seems to go in accompaniment to Naomi, rejecting the idea of returning to her childhood home. These women seem a bit untethered. I guess we all are in our loss, in our brokenness, in our sickness, in our grief. The tie that we see is one from Ruth to Naomi, this choice to attend to her. The others seem more resigned than anything. And what a blessing Ruth becomes.

Faithful companion

Ruth is a faithful companion to Naomi, tending to their needs. Together they travel several days from Moab to Bethlehem, they set up house and then Ruth sees to their sustenance. With the way that Naomi enters Bethlehem, it seems no less than the hand of God that guides Ruth to her side. Her despair in being called Mara is alarming to me. To my eye, it indicates a deep depression. Would Naomi have done enough to sustain her own life if Ruth hadn’t accompanied her? That is where God stepped in and provided a companion, who shared Naomi’s grief. I imagine they sat with their tea together and reminisced of the family lost. Ruth didn’t push Naomi, she actually deferred to her, asking permission to glean the fields. Ruth is continually faithful to Naomi as the story continues into some rather questionable practices to catch Boaz’s attention. But through it all, God leads, and Ruth faithfully follows. Even in strife, He is good.

Finding hope again

When Naomi hears of the kindness of her kinsman that she seems to find that hope again. I think the main difference between the ladies, hope. The God of Israel that Ruth had seen even in faraway Moab had perhaps shown her enough to have that light of hope in her, even though her spiritual mother and mother-in-law seemed to have lost it. Ruth seems to maintain that conviction and expectation for goodness to come. I wonder what she expected of her future.

It is in faithful companionship that we reveal the nature of Christ to our friends, loved ones and those around us. Ruth made no overt attempts to fix Naomi’s bitterness or attempt to push her past the pain. She walked with Naomi, and in doing so showed that hope could be found again. Ruth went about her usual daily activities, things like cleaning, gathering food, cooking, sharing her day and the things she saw. We could say this hope is greatest evidence we have of Ruth’s conversion, for it is only the light of God that shines in these circumstances.

The hope of Christ

Hope in Christ, as Hebrews 11:1 explains, is the confident expectation of good to come. Even the Psalms proclaim this goodness that we can expect, waiting with great anticipation – hope is the goodness with a future aspect, ‘I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13)’ When we feel we have lost everything and everyone, still God shows us His goodness, while we are still living. We need not wait until we are with Him, confidently we will see the goodness of God in the land of the living. Naomi seems to have lost that until Ruth and Boaz show her that God makes a way where there was no way, or perhaps no imagination. I often think that we are the ones lacking imagination, and we just need to let God come up with the solution. Perhaps there is a bit of the unimagined future in hope. We just have to let God work, as we wait in confident expectation of His goodness.