Last offered in the fall of 2018

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Have you ever wondered where God was in your life? Perhaps if God was present at all? In the midst of tragedy, loneliness, pain and the plain old ordinary mess of life, these questions often catch us unassuming. They are, in part, questions that make us human. These are the questions we ask to make sense of the bad things that happen as we try to find purpose and direction in our lives.

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This is why we need the Book of Ruth. In a very earthy and relatable way, the Book of Ruth tells the story of two women, Ruth and Naomi, as they face some of life’s biggest challenges—deaths of loved ones, hunger, poverty, outsider status, and risky vulnerability. Yet in the midst of these literal and metaphorical times of famine, Ruth and Naomi regroup and make for themselves new futures that seek to reconcile a season of great tragedy with a season of great promise.

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In a book of just 85 verses that reads more like a parable than a historical account, the Book of Ruth only once includes direct action by God and yet to the age-old question, “where is God?,” the Book of Ruth has an astounding answer: God is everywhere! By bringing its readers through a captivating and timeless story, the Book of Ruth lends itself to imaginative interpretation and deep searching for the divine initiative in an ordinary, relatable series of events. The book invites its readers to read between the lines for divine action and ultimately conveys the message that God’s providence is inseparable from human agency.  In other words, have hope! You may not always see it, but God is the glue that holds your life together.

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In this six-week study we will unpack the ways the Book of Ruth presents God as that glue in the lives of Ruth and Naomi by illustrating God’s divine providence in four areas: relationship, returning home, risk-taking, and redemption.