I have been reading A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper. I have read through the book of Ruth once a year since I was a kid. I can't remember a time when I wasn't pretty familiar with the story. This book by Piper has caused me to look at this little book of the Bible in a completely different way then I have ever seen it before. I have received more instruction and rebuke from it then I ever have. I have received more encouragement from it then I ever have before. This little book has enlarged my love for my God, and increased my faith more then I imagined the book of Ruth could. I highly recommend reading this book.

I want to share with you this excerpt from the book that I keep rereading because of how it struck me:
The book of Ruth wants to teach us that God's purpose for His people is to connect us to something greater than ourselves. God wants us to know that when we follow him, our lives always mean more than we think they do. Naomi had no idea in the land of Moab that God was making her a the ancestor of the Messiah. For the Christian there is always a connection between the ordinary events of life and the stupendous work of God in history.

Everything we do in obedience to God, no matter how small, is significant. It is a part of a cosmic mosaic that God is painting to display the greatness of his power and wisdom to the world and to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places ( Ephesians 3:10). A deep satisfaction of the christian life is that we are not given over to trifles. Serving a widowed mother-in-law, gleaning in a field, falling in love, having a baby-for the Christian these are all connected to eternity. They are part of something so much bigger than they seem.

Piper goes on to point out that the best is yet to come for the man and woman who follow Jesus in faith. God is at work! And God uses the darkest times in our lives to get us there!