Then Ruth said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants.” Ruth 2:13

The favor Boaz showed to Ruth opened her heart to him. Undeserved kindness has a way of doing that. It softens our defenses and creates a place for trust to grow. Ruth could hardly believe the mercy she was shown. “You have treated me as one of your own,” she told Boaz.

How often do we experience the opposite? “You treat me as if I were a stranger,” we might whisper to a friend who is no longer warm. “You treat me as if you don’t even like me,” we say to a spouse in the heat of an argument. Having to admit feelings such as these makes our hearts ache.  We wonder what happened to love.  It used to be there and was once expressed.

How beautiful to experience what Ruth did, the miracle of unexpected grace. “You’ve made me feel like one of your family,” I once told a host whose hospitality was over the top. Moments like that one pull back the veil to reveal God’s own heart.

For any who says, “I’ve never had beautiful things said to me!” I would encourage a look inward. In the deepest part of you, the Spirit of God lives and breathes and testifies of undeserved favor. What Boaz did for Ruth foreshadowed the staggering kindness of God.  He sent a Redeemer who would welcome the foreigner, embrace the outcast, and rush to include the undeserving into His own household.

O Redeemer, Your love is incomprehensible.  It is strong enough to lift me when I was ruined and tender enough to restore me when I’ve been broken.  Thank you.  Amen