I have always believed that even if we make wrong decisions, if we are earnestly seeking the will of God, He will always work all things out for our good (see Jeremiah, 29:11). However, when you are in an uncertain situation, and things aren’t necessarily working out the way you think they should, you may wonder if that is true in your situation.

I was reading a very familiar story this morning, the story of Ruth, when a certain verse jumped off the page. As a little background for anyone not familiar with the story here is a brief synopsis (you can read the full story in the book of Ruth):

A famine had struck the land of Judah. Because of the famine, a man named Elimelech along with his wife Naomi and their two sons moved to a foreign land where the worship of false gods was prevalent. Elimelech arranged the marriage of his sons to 2 women who were not followers of the same God as they were (a big no no in those days). Unfortunately, Elimelech and his 2 sons all died within a few years after they arrived. Eventually, Naomi received word that the famine had passed, and so she decided that she would return to Judah with her two daughter-in-laws but soon told them to return home so that they could remarry. One of them went back, but the other, Ruth, refused to leave Naomi telling her that she would follow her wherever she went and that Naomi’s God would be her God. So they both returned to Judah. Because they were both widows, they were very poor and eventually Ruth resorted to gleaning grain (basically following behind the harvesters and picking what they missed or left behind)

This is the point where this story took a little different turn for me today:

“Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone who allows me to? ”Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family. Ruth 2:2-3 HCSB (Emphasis added)

I had never really noticed that phrase before. Since when is there ever a coincidence in a Biblical story? Then I noticed there were some verses cross-referenced win the phrase “she happened to be”, so I looked them up. Here is what I found:

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” Proverbs 16:33 HCSB

“A man’s steps are determined by the Lord, so how can anyone understand his own way?” Proverbs 20:24 HCSB

That’s when it hit me. Nothing is a coincidence. If you know the end of the story, Ruth ends up marrying Boaz and they are part of the lineage that leads up to King David and eventually to Jesus. God knew exactly what the outcome was going to be. However, he did not prevent Ruth from going through hard things to get there. It had to be devastating to lose a husband. It had to be incredibly hard to live in such poverty that you have to go, essentially beg, and gather grain behind harvesters. But, God redeemed all of it. He gave her the strength to endure the hard, on the way to the blessing.

If you are in that place right now, take heart. If you feel like you cannot endure another thing, remember that “a man’s steps are determined by the Lord” and He has a plan to get you through whatever you are going through. Who knows, maybe your breakthrough will be found in the midst of the exact pain you are in, just like it was for Ruth.

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 HCSB