Dropped on Purpose - Part II

15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”
(Ruth 2:15-16)

Yesterday we began to explore the intentional work of God to provide more than we have need of - allowing us to experience what he has provided ON PURPOSE in our lives.  Ruth was in a rare situation when she was gathering the leftover grains from the fields of Boaz.  She recognized that what was left was more than what most harvesters would leave.  When she came into the realization that there was grain being left ON PURPOSE, she was humbled and felt terribly unworthy of this man's favor.

We often feel the same way about God's favor in our lives - we see ourselves as unworthy and therefore, we resist the favor he extends.  The fact is that God has placed answers in our path ON PURPOSE.  He has provided undeserved favor in our lives ON PURPOSE.  Our worthiness is not the deal-breaker here!  God doesn't wait for us to be "worthy" of his answers or his favor!  He places all that we need right where we need it ON PURPOSE even before we recognize that we need it!

Ruth was in a rare place of being able to gather among the harvesters.  She recognized that she was acquiring much more in her gleaning than she would be able to use in just one or two meals.  When she "beat out" that grain, she saw just how much she had gathered.  Naomi recognized this, as well, and is amazed at the good fortune of Ruth to have undertaken her gleaning in the field of Boaz.  If the truth be known, there are those in our lives that God has placed there by "divine appointment".  We may not fully recognize the significance of their involvement in our lives until the end of venture.  In the end, we look back and see the even their involvement was ON PURPOSE.

Here's what I hope we get from this passage:  1) God places us where we can come into direct contact with what he has provided for us ON PURPOSE.  Both our placement and the benefits of that placement have a unique purpose in our lives.  When we resist that placement - we limit the blessings of God.  2) God is purposeful in the display of his grace when we least expect it.  Ruth did not expect to find more grain in this field - yet she did.  It was purposefully placed there for her benefit.  God's graces are most often something we discover when we least expect them.  3) We can never underestimate the purpose of the ones God puts in our path.  The ON PURPOSE alignment of one with another is often not fully understood until the evidence of the journey is realized.

Not sure whose fields you might be "gleaning" from today - but I am confident that God has placed blessings in your path ON PURPOSE.  Handfuls of blessing have been dropped in your path ON PURPOSE.  Don't be in too much of a hurry to pass by what has been purposefully placed there for your enjoyment.

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