The Book of Ruth | This Isn’t About Waiting for Boaz

There was a time I read the Book of Ruth with one lens, the lens of romance.
I saw Ruth as the faithful woman, Boaz as the godly man who found her, and their story as a reward for patient and loyal waiting.

It made for a beautiful love story. And for years, that’s all I saw.

But this time, reading it again through Bible in a Year with Father Mike, something shifted. I slowed down. I let Scripture speak. And suddenly, the story of Ruth wasn’t just about romance.

It was about faith, obedience, courage, and covenant. The kind of quiet faithfulness that transforms lives, including mine.

Ruth’s Conversion: Faith Over Familiarity

The real love story in Ruth doesn’t begin with Boaz.

It begins when Ruth clings to Naomi, a grieving mother-in-law who has nothing to offer her. Ruth says, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

This wasn’t sentiment, it was conversion. A complete surrender of everything she once knew.

Ruth left her homeland of Moab, a place born out of brokenness and the compromise of Lot, and chose to follow the God of Israel into the unknown.

She didn’t just stay out of duty. She stepped into covenant. And at the lowest point of her life, widowed, childless, uncertain. Ruth chose faith over familiarity.

And that’s what real faith is. Not knowing what’s next, but knowing who you're walking with.

The Covenant Between Ruth and Naomi

We often look for romance in Scripture, but sometimes the deepest love stories are not romantic at all.

Ruth and Naomi’s bond is built on loyalty, grief, and choice. Ruth’s words almost sound like wedding vows, not because she’s marrying Naomi, but because she’s committing herself to covenant love.

She clings to Naomi, not for what she’ll gain, but because she chooses to stay.

This is the kind of love that reflects God’s character. Faithful, unwavering, present when it’s hard.

It’s a reminder that covenant love isn’t always about romance. Sometimes it’s the friend who won’t walk away. The daughter-in-law who stays. The person who chooses love when no one expects it.

Boaz: More Than a Husband, A Law-Keeper

When Boaz enters the story, it’s not with fanfare or charm. It’s through obedience.

After reading through the laws in the early books of the Bible, something stood out to me when I returned to Ruth. Boaz followed God’s law.

Deuteronomy 24 instructed landowners to leave the edges of their fields for the poor, the widow, and the foreigner. Boaz did exactly that. Ruth had the right to glean in his fields, and Boaz didn’t just allow it. He protected her. He provided for her with dignity.

Later, when it comes time to redeem Ruth, he doesn’t take matters into his own hands. He follows the law again. Boaz isn’t the closest relative, so he goes to the elders. He follows the proper process. He waits.

He obeys God, not because it’s convenient, but because it’s right. And if there is one aspect I have come to know about our God is he places obedience very highly.

So for me, this story isn’t about finding your Boaz. It’s about being someone like Boaz.

Someone who leaves space for others. Who follows God when no one else is watching. Who lives with integrity.

Boaz is a picture of grace within the law. A shadow of Christ, our Redeemer.

Ruth Was Written in Chaos

What many don’t realise is that the story of Ruth takes place during one of Israel’s darkest times, the era of the judges.

This was a period marked by spiritual confusion, violence, and compromise. The book of Judges ends with the words, “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

Right in the middle of that chaos, we meet Ruth and Naomi. Two women navigating grief and survival. A man named Boaz who chooses righteousness.

It’s a quiet story in a loud, broken world.

God didn’t choose a king or a prophet to carry the line of redemption. He used ordinary people who simply made themselves available.

Even when everything feels uncertain, God is still working. Even when society is confused, God is writing stories of hope. He hasn’t stopped. And He wants to do it through us.

The Power of Yes

There’s something powerful about noticing who says yes in this story, and who says no.

Orpah, Naomi’s other daughter-in-law, accepts Naomi’s offer to go back home, she essential says, ‘no’ to Naomi. She turns back.
The first kinsman-redeemer, who was the rightful person for Ruth to marry, says no. He refuses Ruth, afraid of the cost.

But Ruth says yes, to God and Naomi and
Boaz says yes to Ruth.

And their yes changes everything. They start the genealogy of Jesus.

This reminded me that what sets people apart in the Bible isn’t perfection. It’s availability. It’s the willingness to say yes to God, even when it’s costly, even when it’s quiet, even when no one else does.

That’s the invitation in the Book of Ruth, to make ourselves available to God. To say yes.

My Own Season of Obedience

This has been my Boaz season, not because I’ve met someone, but because I’m learning to obey God in the small, unseen ways.

To honour my commitments.
To show up when it’s easier to walk away.
To leave margin in my life for others who may need a little more grace.
To live by what God says, not what the world tries to define as faith or success.

It’s not glamorous. But it’s real.

Read It Again, and Let It Speak

I thought I was reading Ruth to find a love story.
What I found instead was a call to faithfulness, honour, and quiet obedience.

Sometimes Scripture says more than we expect.
Sometimes it challenges us when we let it speak.

So read your Bible. Not just for the familiar stories, but for what it’s saying to you right now.

God’s Word is alive. It meets us in our pain, in our questions, in our waiting.

It speaks to the places in us that long to be seen, led, and loved.

And when we let it speak, it will change us.

Let’s Continue the Conversation

This space was never meant for a monologue, I’d love to hear what stood out to you most. What’s your Ruth moment? What has God shown you in this story?

And if this post blessed you, I’d be so grateful if you shared it.

Use the form below to share a comment, question, or reflection.

Every few weeks, I’ll gather some of your responses and add them here, in a section I call ‘Community Notes’. It’s our way of holding space together, even across different lives, countries, and days.