When God’s Plan Meets Human Inadequacy
Divine Grace In Action — Part 5
Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz stand at the center of a line that shapes history—where divine destiny and human choice collide, and everything hinges on choices made in fear and faith.
In this, hopefully final installment of my series Divine Grace in Action, I explore how the lives of three individuals intersect to reveal the outworking of God’s grace. The book of Ruth is where their stories unfold, with an ensemble cast of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz.
I broadly outline the book as follows:
Chapter 1 introduces the women—their past, their pain, and their loss.
Chapter 2 shows Boaz meeting Ruth and recognizing her as a woman of character—loyal, diligent, and faithful.
Chapter 3 is the dance of destiny, each playing their part.
Chapter 4 is where destiny finds its fulfillment.
Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz
The story begins with Naomi, whose name means “pleasant.” Ten years earlier (v.4), because of famine, she moved with her husband, Elimelech, to Moab (v.1). We meet her as she prepares to return to Israel after hearing that God had visited His people (v.6). In those ten years, she lost her husband and her two sons (v.3–5)—a devastating blow.
When she arrived in Bethlehem, she said:
“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
— Ruth 1:20–21
Mara means “bitter,” reflecting her bitterness toward God.
Next, we meet Ruth. Although the book bears her name, her story would not have been possible without the other characters. When Naomi tried to dissuade her from returning to Israel, she said:
“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.”
— Ruth 1:16
Ruth, one of Naomi’s two daughters-in-law, had come to believe in the God of Israel during her marriage to Naomi’s son, Mahlon (Ruth 4:10).
Then comes Boaz, a wealthy man and relative of Naomi (Ruth 2:1), who brings the next movement of the story into focus and later marries Ruth (Ruth 4:13). One notable detail is that Boaz’s mother was Rahab (Ruth 4:21; Matt. 1:5), whom I discussed in Part 3, The Unexpected Name in Jesus’ Genealogy. She is one of the three Gentile women listed there.
In terms of timeline, these events take place during the period of the Judges (Ruth 1:1), likely early in Israel’s settlement in the promised land, given that Rahab was Boaz’s mother.
Divine Destiny and Human Choice
Earlier, I mentioned the concept of destiny. We all have roles and outcomes that God has chosen and determined for our lives. God told Jeremiah:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
— Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Ruth and Boaz both had roles to play in Jesus’ genealogy. The ending of the book makes this clear:
“Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.”
— Ruth 4:21
The line of David is the line through which Jesus came. Naomi functions as the link that brings this Davidic chain into motion. Each person had a part to play, but each also had to make the right choices. If any of them had declined or failed to step into their role, God, who is sovereign, would have worked it out another way—but they would have missed out.
Naomi had to choose to return home. She could have remained in Moab, since her faith in the God of Israel had already been deeply shaken. Instead, she chose to return to the land of her God.
Ruth had to return with Naomi. She had the option to stay in Moab like her sister-in-law, Orpah (Ruth 1:15), but she clung to Naomi even under pressure to turn back.
Boaz had to fulfill his role as a kinsman-redeemer. He could have declined, like the nearer kinsman did in Ruth 4:6. That man hesitated out of concern that his inheritance would be jeopardized. He assumed that any child born through Ruth would carry Mahlon’s name, but it didn’t ultimately play out that way.
God, by His grace, chose them for these roles—it was undeserved. Naomi was struggling in faith, Ruth was a Moabite, and Boaz, apart from being a man of character and wealth, there was nothing else remarkable about him. Yet they still had to make the right choices within what was set before them.
Faith and Human Response
Similarly, there are destinies God has chosen for us, and we still have to make the right choices within them.
Naomi chose to return to the land in spite of her bitterness and her declining faith in the God of Israel.
Ruth chose the God of Israel over the gods of Moab, and chose uncertainty living among a foreign people over the comfort of her own.
Boaz chose faith over fear (Ruth 3:13). He did not know how marrying Ruth would affect his wealth or inheritance, but he did it anyway.
Faith is not the absence of fear but action in spite of it. All great men and women of God had fears, but they did not allow those fears to stop them. This is where grace intersects with destiny in human life.
Final Takeaways
Our inadequacies are where grace mostly intersects with God’s purposes. We are all inadequate in one way or another. Which of these characters do you most identify with?
Maybe you’re like Naomi—someone who has lost much, whose faith has grown weak and unsteady. God has not forgotten you. He is about to change your story and turn your bitterness into pleasantness again.
Or perhaps you’re like Ruth, living in uncertainty. You’ve left your past and relationships behind, and stepped out in faith, unsure of what lies ahead. God is about to give you the stability you need and desire.
Or you’re like Boaz. He was secure financially and materially, yet he had no wife and children—an emptiness he longed to fill, one that led him to risk everything. He put it all on the line, uncertain of the outcome. God is about to reward your faith and give you what has been missing.