“It was God who sent me here not you” (v5)

(1) Ruth: God had a perfect plan for Ruth, the Moabite yet it looked as if misfortune followed her.

First she lost her husband. Then she went with her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem and they were so poor that Ruth had to go into the fields of the rich farmers and glean whatever was left after the harvest. But Ruth trusted God, and there in the field she met Boaz, a rich relative of her dead husband. Boaz, fell in love with Ruth and were married. God’s plan had worked, and Ruth became the grand mother of King David.

(2) Joseph: was sold by his brothers as a slave to a caravan of merchants on their way to Egypt. It was the first step in God’s plan, but Joseph’s brothers had no idea that they were serving God’s purpose. When Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to buy grain, he revealed his identity. Read Gen 45:5, 8;50:20. We often will admit that God is able to make things work out good for us.

(3) Stephen: Stephen obviously trusted that God was completely in charge of the situation, for he knelt down while the stones were being hurled a him and cried out with a loud voice “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin.

(4) Saul of Tarsus became Paul the apostle after a remarkable conversion experience on the road to Damascus. He experienced his share of what looked like mishaps in spreading the gospel. Read Acts 16:20-24. (Merlin C. Carothers)

PRAYER LINE: Though freed from the law with its stern commands – No longer ruled by its demands – I’m bound by Christ’s love and am only free To live and to act responsibly – DTD

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God’s law shows us a need that only God’s grace can supply.