Widow's Journal

It had been a long day for Ruth when she returned to Naomi that first evening. Naomi saw her lugging the 26 quarts of grain she’d gathered and I’m sure her eyes popped wide! “Where did you gather and whose field was it?” she queried. “His name was Boaz.” Ruth had no idea of the family connection Boaz had with Naomi and Elimelech and suddenly Naomi replies with a blessing for Boaz for not abandoning the living nor the ones who’d passed. Wow. The realization must have made hope spring up in Naomi, as it would any widow who suddenly realizes that we are not without hope, and that the Lord will never leave nor abandon us. “He is a close relative,” Naomi continued, and Ruth is about to hear for the first time of the role of a family redeemer, a close relative to her deceased husband who could support her or Ruth and provide an heir and a future. And so it was that she encouraged Ruth to continue gleaning in the field of Boaz, and she did, working daily until both the barley and the wheat crops were harvested.

So, Naomi, seeing there is a glimmer of hope, encourages Ruth to approach Boaz. She coaches Ruth to go to the threshing floor where Boaz would be finishing up his day, eating his dinner, and turning in for the night. She is not to let him know she is there but to take note of where he lies down to sleep and present him with the question of his possible interest in taking on the role of their kinsman-redeemer. This is a delicate situation for Ruth to acknowledge her need of a kinsman-redeemer and propose the possibility of accepting should Boaz agree to fill that role. Naomi even prepares her with what to say.

As widows, we are often reticent to ask for help unless there are no other options. But here Ruth is compliant and follows the plan, putting aside any possible pride. She trusts Naomi, and in her sincerity and humble manner, completely complies in every detail and direction. At midnight, Boaz is sleeping soundly, rolls over and his foot senses something out of the ordinary at the foot of his bed. Startled awake, he realizes that there’s a woman at his feet! “Who are you?!” he says in the dark, and Ruth responds with, “I am your servant…Take me under your wing, for you are a family redeemer.” Still waking up, trying to grasp the implications of the situation before him, Boaz blesses her for her kindness and assures her he will indeed shortly check out this possibility. Meanwhile, he doesn’t want to send her out into the night, but rather tells her to stay until morning, and he promises to see if a closer family member is willing, but if not, he will. In the early morning light, Boaz fills Ruth shawl with six measures of barley, “Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty handed.” (3:17)

Empty handed. Naomi had known what it was to go out of Bethlehem full of hope, but life in Moab had taken it all. Every. Last. Bit. First, it took Elimelech, leaving her a widow with two fatherless boys. Then, ten years went by, the boys married, and then they, too, died. She was empty. “The Lord has brought me back empty.” (1:21) We feel that way often. What was our comfort zone, the future we’d hoped for, plans and dreams, all dissipate when our husband passes. There is no normal anymore, no safe place to land it seems, and we feel empty. Nothing feels like home. Who are we, we wonder, trying to determine our identity. But Boaz takes note of the situation. He understands Naomi’s heart. He also provides a heaping portion of barley, six measures, as proof that he will provide. When Naomi saw the gift, she was reassured: Boaz, who has been the very picture of our Savior’s redeeming grace, would take care of business and soon.

What a storehouse of promises fills God’s Word with how our Father in Heaven graciously cares for the widow, the fatherless, and those who suffer with broken hearts. With such kind faithfulness He binds our wounds and becomes our Refuge, our Shield. In all of these lies the grace He pours out on us. Psalm 146:9 declares, “the Lord…sustains the fatherless and widow.” Psalm 147: 3 reminds us, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” And Psalm 34: 18 says, “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” 1Peter 5:10 tells us, “And the God of grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” His promises are the very essence of the grace He affords us every day, as we turn to His Word time and again when the widow life wearies us.

Grace is often defined as unmerited favor; it’s something given freely and cannot be earned. Our saving grace that God provided through Jesus was a gift we never deserved. But there’s the day-to-day grace we need, as well. The grace we need to live for Him, to serve Him every day. That’s nothing we can do under our own power. We may try, but it soon becomes apparent that we can’t do life on our own! We need God’s daily grace. As a widow, I’m realizing just how tough this grace is. I realize God’s grace has brought me through some places so challenging, I knew there was nothing of me in it. Just God.

When hanging on to His promises is all that sustained me, I realized it was not my doing, but the grace in which He wrapped me. I came to see that His grace was the all-weather steel-belted radials that were meeting the uneven, unfamiliar roads I now travel. There are jarring potholes of memories, the gravel of uncertainty, and the unpaved routes of what rattles my frame. I knew His grace was stronger than the jolts and could handle what life was putting under my wheels. I could trust that He was between me and this new pavement called widowhood.

His promises remind me of His presence and all He is, as well as all He has done. They have become the Almighty reliable unmerited daily support. The Apostle Paul verifies this when he reports in 2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) about his “thorn in the flesh” that he’d asked God to remove. “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Sufficient grace from God’s hand, His power being made perfect in my weakness of need, uncertainty, and rough terrain, yet He already knew about it all. It’s through this gift of grace that we process and that we produce what we can pass along to others in need of gracious comfort.