Unceasing Kindness (Ruth 2)

Please turn your Bible to the book of Ruth.

If you didn't bring a Bible, there's some in the back.

Just raise your hand. Somebody will bring you a Bible

right now that'll serve you. You can follow along.

And if you didn't bring a Bible and you don't own one, feel free

to keep that Bible. It's our gift to you.

Ruth is near the beginning of the Bible, just after the book

of Judges. If you're not familiar with the

Bible at all, the big numbers, those are the chapters.

The little numbers, those are the verses we're going to be in

Ruth chapter 2. As I read Ruth chapter 2, hear

Ruth 2 · chapter mention Ruth 2 · chapter mention

the word of the Lord. Now Naomi had a relative of her

husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name

was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to

Naomi, Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of

grain after him, in whose sight I shall find favor.

And she said to her, Go my daughter.

So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the

reapers. And she happened to come to the

part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of

Elimelech. And behold, Boaz came from

Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, The

Lord be with you. And they answered, The Lord

bless you. Then Boaz said to his young man,

Who is in charge of the reapers, Whose young woman is this?

And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered,

She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from

the country of Moab. She said, please let me glean

and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.

So she came, and she has continued from early morning

until now, except for a short rest.

Then Boaz said to Ruth, Now listen, my daughter, do not go

to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close

to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field

that they are reaping, and go after them.

Have I not charged the young man not to touch you?

And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the

young man have drawn. Then she fell on her face,

bowing to the ground, and said to him, Why have I found favor

in your eyes that you should take notice of me, since I am a

foreigner? But Boa Boa has answered her.

All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of

your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your

father and mother and your native land and came to a people

that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you

have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord the God of

Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

Then she said, I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, for

you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I

am not one of your servants. And that meal time Boaz said to

her, Come here and eat some bread, and dream dip your morsel

in the wine. So she sat beside the reapers,

and he passed to her roasted grain, and she ate until she was

satisfied, and she had some leftover.

When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young man,

saying, let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach

her, and also pull out some of the bundles for her, and leave

it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.

So she gleaned in the field until evening.

Then she beat out what she had gleaned and it was about an IFA

of barley and she took it up and went into the city.

Her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.

She also brought out and gave her what food she had leftover

after being satisfied. And her mother-in-law said to

her, where did you glean today and where have you worked?

Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and

said, The man's name with whom I work today is Boaz.

And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, May he be

blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the

living or the dead. Naomi also said to her, The man

is a close relative of ours, one of our Redeemers.

And Ruth the Moabite said, Besides, he said to me, You

shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all my

harvest. And Naomi said to Ruth, her

daughter-in-law, It is good, my daughter, that you go out with

his young women, lest in another field you be assaulted.

So she kept close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until

the end of the barley and wheat harvest, and she lived with her

mother-in-law. Friends, notice how Chapter 2

ends with the end of the barley and wheat harvest.

Do you remember how Chapter 1 ended with the beginning of the

barley harvest? The harvest took place over 7

weeks, meaning chapter 2 takes place over about 50 days.

But if you were listening carefully, the author's focus is

really just on one of those 50 days.

The author gives us the time stamps.

Verse 7, early morning meal time in the afternoon.

Verse 14, evening. Verse 17.

One day, 24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds.

We rarely tend to think much about what can happen in a

single day, but in a single day, and more specifically in a

single encounter, Naomi and Ruth's destitute lives are going

to be reversed drastically. Chapter 2 is there fresh start.

Perhaps you're waiting for a fresh start today, wishing for

the day when you'll wake up and things will be different.

Patiently plotting until your fortunes finally turn, hoping

that one day soon you'll finally catch your break.

Friends, Chapter 2 of Ruth is here to tell us as we wait.

Take refuge in the God of subtle Providence.

Take refuge in the God of subtle Providence.

The story unfolds in three scenes, so we're going to work

through the passage with three points.

First point, seeking favor verses 1 to 3.2, finding

kindness versus 4 to 17 and .3 seeing Providence versus 18 to

23. So seeking favor, finding

kindness, seeing Providence, scene one, we'll start there

seeking favor. Before jumping into the story,

the author offers us an introduction to a new character

just for the reader. Look at verse one.

Now, Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the

clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

The author says meet Boaz and he tells us two things about Boaz.

One, he's a relative of Elimelech.

They're from the same clan. The clan was larger than just

your immediate family. Two, he's a worthy man.

Now, depending on the context, this could mean that he's

respectable. A man of moral courage.

Kids, you could think of a knight in shining armor.

A man of courage. That could be what it means.

It could also mean that he's wealthy, a man of high standing

in society. Shortly we're going to see that

Boaz is actually both. The author tells us this about

Boaz, and then he just drops it, leaves it aside, and moves on.

He's setting us, the readers, up.

He's taking us behind the scenes.

Next we hear a short conversation between Ruth and

Naomi, verse 2. And Ruth the Moabite said to

Naomi, Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of

grain after him, and whose sight I shall find favor.

And she said to her, Go, my daughter, have you ever started

the day not knowing where your next meal was going to come

from? Walk a mile with me.

And Ruth and Naomi's shoes. They have no husbands, they have

no protection, they have no provision.

They are poor widows who've returned to Bethlehem for Ruth.

Bethlehem is a foreign nation. It's a strange land.

How do widows survive? In ancient Israel, according to

the law of the land, the Lord provided a kind of work welfare

program for the destitute. You could see this in Leviticus

2322, which says when you reap the harvest of your land, you

shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you

gather the gleanings after your harvest.

You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.

I am the Lord your God. Again, Deuteronomy 24, verse 20

Deuteronomy 24:20

specifies this was primarily for the sojourner, the fatherless,

the widow, meaning that if you owned land, you couldn't reap

right up to the edges. You need to leave the edges open

for those who were less fortunate than you.

And even when you were gleaning, if some accidentally fell on the

ground, you could not pick it up.

You had to leave it for the poor and for the destitute.

Now obviously this is bad business practice if your bottom

line is making as much money as you can.

But God's covenant people, Israel, were commanded to be

generous, to overflow with generosity because they served a

generous God. So Ruth departs Naomi to go

gleaning. She's seeking favor, and almost

immediately, it seems, at least the author wants us readers to

know that she finds it. Verse 3.

So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the

Reapers, and she happened. She happened to come to the part

of the field belonging to Boaz. What are the odds?

What are the odds that Ruth would wander onto Boaz's field?

In ancient Israel, the land was carefully divided in many

sections. It was owned by different

people. You wouldn't know whose land

you're on. It was divided by landmarks.

But there were no signs saying Boaz's field.

What a coincidence. It's as if the author is telling

us, the reader, as if by chance, or as luck would have it.

But Christian, you know there's no such thing as luck.

There is, however, such a thing as grace.

The very thing that Ruth went looking for.

Someone we see behind the scenes, is directing Ruth's

steps. Remember, Ruth does not yet know

who Boaz is, but we do. Ruth does not yet see the

sovereign plan of the Lord at work, but the author is telling

us to see it. The author is letting us in on

the secret, the subtle Providence of God working for

her good. Perhaps you've said or wondered,

maybe even this week, but I don't see God at work in my

life. Friends, God does not just work

9:00 to 5:00. Perhaps you've said or thought,

but I don't sense that he's doing anything.

Friends, God does most of his important work behind the

scenes, hidden from human eyes. There's a story in First Kings

22 where King Ahab disguises himself in battle because God's

foretold to him that he's going to die in battle.

He thinks, well, if I wear disguise, a little costume, a

mask, maybe I can hide from God's providential hand.

But the story goes that a man at random pulls a bow, shoots an

arrow and hits him right between the armor and he dies.

What are the odds nothing random happens in life?

Years ago I was visiting a friend's church in Fayetteville,

AR and you would not believe who just happened to be saving me a

seat. Hannah Abraham.

Back then she was Hannah Holden. It just happened that she was

the one saving my seat. We were reunited after a year or

so apart. You know, if you've been a

Christian long enough, you can look back and know God often

works in mysterious ways that we couldn't imagine or fathom at

the time. It takes time.

Sometimes we will only learn what God was doing in eternity.

That's why we're called to walk by faith. faith in God believes

He's working when we cannot see that He is working. faith in God

believes that nothing just happens.

Faith in God trusts that God is at work in ways that were

completely oblivious to and in ways that we couldn't even

comprehend if He told us. faith in God takes risks, like Ruth,

who was taking a risk to find some favor.

In verses 4 to 17. Ruth finds what she's looking

for. Scene 2.

Finding kindness, verses 4 to 17, this is the day where

something wonderful happens to Ruth.

She finds favor. She's showered with kindness.

This is the day that changes everything for Ruth.

And look who it all begins with in verse 4.

And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem.

And he said to the reapers, the Lord be with you.

And they answered, the Lord bless you.

Don't miss the surprise the author wants us to feel by the

word. Behold, see, look who turns up.

It's Boaz from Bethlehem with a blessing.

Notice how Boaz treats his employees.

He blesses them and they return the blessing.

This is ordinary godliness in days of godlessness.

This is the time of the judges. But there is at least one

community that's walking by faith with the Lord. 2

conversations following verses 5 to 13.

In the first conversation, Boaz asked the man in charge of the

reapers. Whose young woman is this?

That's a question that reveals character.

Boaz cares. He's the kind of man who is

kind. He's concerned for the welfare

of a stranger. It's also a question that

reveals Ruth's condition. Whose young woman is this?

Well, what's the answer? No one's.

She has no husband. She has no father.

She has no one to care for her. She is known to protect her.

In fact, she's the one responsible to protect and

provide for her mother-in-law for Naomi and the head reapers.

Answer also reveals Ruth's character.

Notice what he says. She humbly requested to glean

after the reapers and she's been hard at work since working from

early morning until now. Then in the next conversation,

Boaz talks directly with Ruth. Verse 8.

He respects Ruth by calling her my daughter.

Boaz is older, it seems, than Ruth.

There's a bunch of young men there.

He's one of the older men. In verse 9, he protects Ruth by

urging her to stay in his field and charging the men not to

bother her. In verse 9, he also provides for

Ruth with plenty of water to drink.

All of this is a kindness because Boaz goes above and

beyond the letter of the law. He is by law required to let her

glean, but he is not required to do everything else that he does

for her. This is remarkable generosity

and care. This is a sign that Ruth has

found favor, such favor that in verse 10 she falls on her face.

She asks why? Why have I found favor in your

eyes? That you should take notice of

me, since I am a foreigner? Do you know what it's like to be

a foreigner in a strange land? Ruth is a Moabite.

The author will not let us forget that either.

Look how many times he repeats it.

Three times. Verse one, Verse 5, Verse 21.

She underscores it here. I am a foreigner.

Moab was an enemy of Israel. Just imagine how Ruth could have

fared in the fields in the days when the judges ruled.

What could have become of Ruth? Years ago, Han and I were

grabbing Chai at Uncle T in Dubai Little Chai shop.

They had a lot of Indian snacks. We were there with our housemate

Chichi, who was from Nigeria. And there on the cash register,

there was a sign hiring young Filipino or Indian cashiers.

And I saw the sign. I'm standing there with my

Nigerian friend, and I'm like, seriously?

So when I asked the cashier, we start talking, I said, so you're

saying that Chichi here could not apply for a job here?

And he just smiles. Yeah, it's exactly what we're

saying. You know, imagine how that would

go in the United States. Discrimination written in the

laws of the land. That was fine.

You could do that there, you know, for Ruth, who's holding

this Moabite passport in Bethlehem.

Sure, there's the laws of the land.

There are provisions for foreigners, but it's the days of

the judges. Not everyone's following the law

of the land. And Ruth understood this.

She understood that she did not deserve to be treated with this

kindness. She knew that this was not

normally how foreigners were treated.

And so she was amazed. She was amazed by Grace.

Now look at how Boaz responds in verse 11.

He responds to Ruth's question by recounting Ruth's godliness,

which he'd heard through the Grapevine.

Verse 11. All that you have done for your

mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told

to me. And how you left your father and

your mother and your native land and came to a people that did,

you did not know before, wrote Boaz.

Excuse me? Boaz recounts Ruth's actions.

It's as if she's like Abraham back in Genesis 12.

She's left it all behind. She's left behind her homeland,

left behind her Gods left behind her people, left behind her

father's household. She's left it all for the

promised land. It is her works that Boaz points

to which reveals who her faith is.

In Boaz goes on verse 12, the Lord repay you for what you have

done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord the God of

Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.

Ruth left it all behind, not just for the land, not just for

Naomi, but for the Lord. She's taken refuge under the

wings of the God of Israel. Now think back just to Matthew

6, which was read in the earlier in the service.

Birds. Look at the birds.

What do they teach us? Well, one, they teach us that as

God provides for them, which He does every day, He sustains

their life. He's going to provide for us.

That's one thing we're supposed to learn from birds.

There's apparently a second thing that Boaz points out,

which is that as a mother hen protects her little young by

snuggling them up close, keeping them tight and protects them,

we're supposed to understand that God loves and cares and

protects for and provides for his people.

That's the picture. It's a beautiful picture, a

mother hen hiding her young under her wings.

A mother hen is a picture of the Lord as a protector, A refuge, a

shield for his people. The baby bird hiding is a

picture of finding protection, taking refuge.

It's a picture of finding safety and security.

In describing Israel's deliverance from Egypt, the Lord

said in Exodus 19, I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to

myself. Israel, you could say sword out

of slavery in Egypt on eagle's wings.

And later, as we read in Psalm 91, the writer uses the same

picture of the Lord protecting his people.

He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you

will find refuge. In Psalm 63 seven, Ruth's great

grandson, King David says of the Lord in the shadow of your wings

I will sing for joy. God is a refuge for his people

by faith. Ruth risked it all for the God

of Israel and Boaz prays that the Lord, the God of Israel, her

refuge would repay her and reward her abundantly.

Those words bring comfort to Ruth.

She says verse 13. I have found favor, my Lord, for

you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, though I

am not one of your servants. She's saying, I don't know you,

you don't know me, yet you're showing me such favor.

It's favor greater than she expected.

It's a great comfort to her, and yet there's more to come.

Look at verse 14. By the time lunch rolls around,

Boaz's generosity almost becomes comical.

He invites Ruth over for a meal. This is not a private date, but

it is a gesture of inclusion into the larger community.

She eats until she's satisfied She even has leftovers.

Then Boaz even tells the gleaners the Reapers to allow

Ruth to glean among the sheaves. Not after the Reapers.

And he tells them, pull out some of what you've gathered and

leave it out for her. I mean, this is ridiculous.

Hey, Reapers, take some of the big bundles, pull some stocks

out and leave it for Ruth. You can almost imagine these

young men. Hey, Ruth, over here.

Left some for you over here. Hey, over here.

There's some more over here for you.

It's abundant kindness. It's extravagant generosity.

So much so that by the evening, Ruth had gleaned an EFA of

barley. Now that might not strike you.

It did not strike me immediately because I did not know what an

EFA of barley was. It's about 5 gallons of barley.

It's about 30 lbs of barley. It's a lot of barley.

It's enough to make about 50 small loaves of bread.

Meaning, Ruth is going home, back to the city of Bethlehem

full. She's just eaten a meal.

She's satisfied with leftovers and enough barley to make bread

for a couple weeks. She was seeking favor, and she

found it abundantly unceasing. Favor in Boaz.

Believer. Does Boaz remind you of anyone?

In Boaz we get a taste, a little picture of the kindness of Jesus

Christ. Jesus came to bless us.

If you've believed in Jesus, you have every spiritual blessing in

the heavenly places. He came to give us grace.

If you've believed in Jesus, you don't get what you deserve.

You get what you could never earn.

Marvelous grace. Jesus came to protect us and to

provide for us. If you've trusted in Jesus, he's

your advocate before the Father. He himself is your refuge from

God's wrath. For he died on the cross and

rose again, and all who are destitute and downcast are

invited to take refuge under his wings.

Sinners do not deserve this lavish generosity.

We deserve death and hell and eternal judgement.

Sinners could never earn this love.

We can only receive it with the empty hands of faith.

Faith that makes us fall on our face and marvel at Christ's

mercy. Friend, if you're not a

Christian, follow in Ruse footsteps.

Turn from your sins, count the cost, forsake the world.

Jesus himself offers you living water.

If you believe in Him, He says you'll never thirst again.

He offers you in Himself eternal life.

If you've trusted in Him, you have a seat at His table

forever. Jesus offers you Himself, no

matter where you're from. The blessing of Abraham that was

promised to bless all the nations comes to you through the

blood of Jesus Christ who makes Gentiles like U.S., citizens of

heaven like Ruth, Brothers and sisters.

Ruth is a model of receiving grace.

Boaz is a model of giving grace. Their character reflect

reflected beautifully the Lord that we serve.

Here's a couple things we can learn from Boaz and Ruth.

Two things. One, from Boaz and Ruth we can

learn how we should love God and love our neighbor.

Loving God in the Scriptures looks like loving our neighbor.

When we've grasped the immensity of God's grace to us in Christ,

that grace will overflow in our kindness to others.

Or you could put it the other way.

Our generosity actually reveals our grasp of God's lavish

generosity to us. Like the days of Judges, we live

in days of moral and spiritual decline.

We live in a world where everyone does what's right in

their own eyes, a world where the vulnerable and the desperate

are in need of favor from God's new covenant people, the church.

And Christ gathers up the destitute and the vulnerable

who've taken refuge in him. And he intends for his body, the

church, to be the place where they are protected from harm and

provided for. Which is why in the New

Testament, we're commanded as Christians to care for the

orphans and widows in our midst. It's why the very first church,

the first church in Jerusalem, it was said, Luke says, that

there was not a needy person among them.

Can you imagine the generosity? It's why Paul commands us

contribute to the needs of the Saints and seek to show

hospitality. Brothers and sisters, when you

open up your home, when you share a meal, when you share the

goods that God's given you with your brothers and sisters in

need, you reflect beautifully the generosity of our good God.

When you give to the Benevolence Fund, which is for those in need

in the church, you reflect the beauty of the generosity of God.

When you just sign up for a meal train, when you bear the burdens

of your brothers and sisters in this church, you're revealing

that you do believe that God is generous and kind and gracious

to His people. The second thing, from Boaz and

Ruth, we also see a pattern of godly masculinity and godly

femininity. 2 questions. What is a man?

What is a woman? Friends, these are not trick

questions. The world treats them like that,

though. The world fills our imaginations

with what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman.

The world throws those categories into a blender, chops

them up, and then offers them back to us, which brings chaos

and confusion and heartache. There needs to be clarity when

we think about what it needs means to be a man and what it

means to be a woman. And Boaz and Ruth can offer us

that. Men look to Boaz as a model of

manhood. He cares and respects.

He protects and provides. Boaz immediately notices Ruth in

need. Brothers, be on the lookout for

those in the church who are struggling in need of help.

Boaz respectfully addresses Ruth.

Brothers, honor the women in the church by how you speak to them.

Boaz goes out of his way to offer protection and prevention.

Brothers, use the strength God's given you to help the weak and

the vulnerable and the helpless. Boaz is the exact opposite of a

domineering man who crushes those under his authority.

He is the exact opposite of a passive man who exasperates

those under his authority. He is the kind of man that you

can flourish under and grow, a man you should aspire to be.

Ladies look to Ruth as a model of womanhood.

She is hard working, humble and deferential.

See her in the field, working hard all morning except for a

short rest. See her humbly bowing down to

Boaz, amazed at his kindness. See her deferential demeanor as

she puts herself in dependence upon the overseers of the field

who allow her to work. See her godliness in action, for

everyone in Bethlehem knew that the Ruth of Moabite belonged to

the God of Israel. Everyone was talking about it.

Ladies, let your hard work and your humble posture reveal your

heavenly citizenship. Brothers and sisters, character

like this. It is not formed in a moment.

It's cultivated over a lifetime of quiet and often unseen

obedience to God. It takes an iceberg hundreds of

years to form, and 80 to 90% of that iceberg is submerged under

the water, invisible to your eyes.

It's floating beneath the surface, those years of

formation. Your character is cultivated day

by day, decade over decade. What kind of man, what kind of

woman? Are you brothers and sisters

becoming friend? Are you seeking favor today?

Are you searching for some grace?

Are you hoping for a fresh start?

The church is to be the place where people can have a fresh

start and a new beginning, a place where people can learn to

see God rightly and love one another generously.

Friends turn with me to the final scene of chapter 2, Scene

3, Seeing Providence. Ruth returns from the field of

the city, from Boaz to Naomi. She returns with a bag of barley

and with leftovers. It's so much barley that when

Ruth sees it, she can tell that Ruth's found favor and she wants

to know the source. She asked verse 19, Where did

you glean today and where have you worked?

Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

So Ruth tells her mother-in-law. And I love how the author leaves

us in suspense. The man's name with whom I work

today is Boaz. Boaz.

Now remember, Ruth does not yet know the significance of Boaz.

Remember that too. Naomi, back in chapter 1 ended

the chapter by lamenting to the Lord who she said brought her

back from to Bethlehem empty. But now listen to Naomi in verse

20. May he be blessed by the Lord,

whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead.

And Naomi adds, the man is a close relative of ours, one of

our redeemers. Naomi's lament turns to praise.

What brings this smile to her face?

What helps her see God's Providence, which is so subtle

at work? Well friends, it all started

with a bag of barley and some leftovers.

Seriously, leftovers. I wonder here who loves

leftovers? Just one person.

I'd love to meet you at the back door afterwards and shake your

hand. Kids, what's your response when

your parents say for dinner we're having leftovers?

Usually not very good. You usually don't have a happy

heart. That was me growing up as a kid,

I must confess, I did not have a happy heart when my mom said

we're having leftovers. You can try to get creative with

leftovers, you know, combine them, put them in a casserole,

you know, put them in a tortilla or tacos.

They're the same thing. They're still leftovers.

But today as an adult, I have learned to live with leftovers.

Naomi, on the other hand, learn to love leftovers.

Leftovers. They were an edible expression

of the kindness of God towards her.

She who claimed a return from Moab empty was filled by the

generosity of Boaz. She who did not realize that God

was working behind the scenes, tasted the generosity of God in

a meal. But Boaz provision for Ruth and

Naomi was more than a meal. It would even last longer than a

few weeks worth of barley in her bag.

Look at verse 21, Ruth tells Naomi, Besides, he said to me,

you shall keep close by my young men until they have finished all

my harvest, all the harvest they're going to be provided

for. And Naomi responds, It is good,

my daughter, that you go out with his young women, lest in

another field you'd be assaulted.

Do you see the Lord's provision? Do you see his protection in

Boaz? Not all is well in Israel.

These are the days of the judges.

In another field, Ruth could be assaulted and exploited.

But not all of Israel is unwell. Boaz will protect her.

Boaz will provide for her. Ruth was seeking favor, and in a

single day, she and Naomi find generosity that will sustain

them for months. How can we, like Naomi, learn to

see God's subtle Providence. Learn to count your blessings,

even little things like leftovers, and then trace them

back to their source. Learn to be patient in your

trials, trusting that though you cannot see it, God is at work.

Learn to be surprised, knowing that God is up to something good

for you. Friends, God is so gracious with

his gifts. He's not stingy.

He fed his people in the wilderness until they wanted no

more. He fed Ruth and Naomi until they

were satisfied. He fed the 5000 in the New

Testament such that there were 12 baskets of leftovers.

He is able to do for you far more abundantly than all that

you ask or can even imagine. Let's pray.

Father, you are a kind, a gracious, A generous God.

We pray for us that we learn to spot your subtle Providence in

our lives, knowing that you are working all things for our good.

Lord, help us take refuge in you today.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen.