Ruth: Loyalty and Love

We are still in the lineage of Jesus. God shows us His mercy and grace in who He chose to be the biological ancestors of Christ. Ruth was a Moabite women, who by tradition should not have been married to a Jewish man. But God arranged circumstances in such a way that they could not have been manipulated or ordered by any person.
Gotta love a good love story! Ruth felt drawn to Naomi out of duty, but also out of friendship and love. She was drawn to her mother-in-law who knew the Living God. Ruth abandoned what she had known and grown up with and turned to God. God ordained her steps into perfection. (Father God, I ask that you would guide our steps and that any attempt that we make to manipulate or create our own path would be redirected into your perfect plan for our lives. In Proverbs 16:33 You tell us that even events that seem accidental are readilly ordered by You. You are a partner in our labor and You work everything together for our good, fitting into a plan. We are not wandering aimlessly. Even when we may not feel the direction, You are leading us. We love You and You have called us according to Your design and purpose.)
God led Ruth to the field of her almost-next-of-kin. What a funny turn of events when it turns out there is someone else first. Maybe Ruth wondered what was going on. The Bible doesn't tell us that her faith waivered, but mine might. I hope that it wouldn't, but I can imagine wondering if I had misheard God. Maybe that was my idea and not His? What is going on here? But God still had the situation in His plan. He knew that the next-in-line wouldn't step up and that Boaz was "the one". God had "the one" for Ruth long before she knew who he would be.
So, Ruth gleans in his fields and Boaz is kind to her. He makes sure that she is well taken care of. Then Naomi sends Ruth in to make the first move. And talk about a first move! Okay, I know that it doesn't make sense in our culture, but those of you that are married think about when you first starting crushing on your husband. So you want to tell him that you're interesting, that he may be the guy for you, so you go into his house in the middle of the night, take the covers off of his feet and lay at the foot of his bed. There was an actual meaning in this situation and anyone in the culture and time would have understood. Boaz could have taken advantage of the situation, but he acted honorably. He obviously wanted to marry Ruth, but he knew that he was second in line, so he went with urgency to settle the situation. Boaz took an active role in the love story and pursued Ruth with honor.
BTW - "After years of famine" Boaz had an abundant harvest. The world would say coincidence, but we know that God set up the situation so that Boaz would have no trouble provided for his new bride.
God is our portion and provider. He has "redeemed [us], brought [us] into a position of great favor, endowed [us] with riches and privelege, exalted [us] to be [His] own bride, and loved [us] with the profoundest affection".