Handfuls on Purpose

Beginning in Texas and Oklahoma and working their way on up through Kansas, Nebraska, and both South and North Dakota, custom cutters or harvest crews are wrapping up another wheat harvest. Perhaps the yield, though great at times, was not always as good as would be liked. Yet God would tell us to stop and thank Him for the harvest regardless, because He is the One who provides.

Whether the harvest be great or small, God is providing for your needs. He knows what you need before you ask. He will provide according to your need. Matthew 6:31-33 tells us, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?'... For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Having lived in that country, I remember driving through the countryside watching the harvest unfold. It always reminded me of the story of Ruth in the Bible. Ruth, from Moab, had married an Israelite. Her husband had died, and during a great famine she went to Israel with her mother-in-law, Naomi, also a widow. In going, Ruth stated clearly her faith in the one true God: “Ruth said (to Naomi)… ‘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 loved the Lord God and had learned to trust Him in all circumstances.

Now, the Law of Moses allowed the poor to glean in the farmer’s fields (Lev. 23:22). Being widows, these ladies had no other way to survive in that society than to glean what they could after the harvesters had finished. So, Ruth went to glean in the fields of “him in whose sight I may find favor” (Ruth 2:2). She did not yet know Boaz, let alone the fact that he was “one of our close relatives,” as Naomi would later tell her (v. 20).

God, by His grace, or His unmerited favor, provided bountifully for the needs of Ruth and Naomi. Boaz, upon finding out who Ruth was, instructed her to glean only from his fields (2:8-9) and God would give her a full reward for caring after her mother-in-law (vs. 11-12). He proceeded to instruct his harvesters to not only let her glean unrestricted from the fields, but they were to “let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her” (v. 16).

Not only was Ruth allowed to glean from the fields of Boaz, but God led Boaz to purposely provide in abundance for Ruth and Naomi. God truly provided with handfuls of grain on purpose! He rewarded Ruth’s faith in Him by abundantly meeting her need of food.

Handfuls on purpose. That is God’s promise to all who trust in Him. He will meet your need, whatever it is. He knows what you need before you ask Him. He knows what you need better than you do. Trust Him and thank Him for His great provision, however great or small the need may be. He will take care of you. Amen.