Throughout life, we experience many seasons. Both literal changes of weather throughout the year and periods of time that express the intermittent highs and lows which make up our lives. It’s during certain seasons that we have the opportunity to witness how God provides in unexpected ways.
Whether during a low season where we or someone we know has a great need or during seasons of abundance where we get the pleasure of receiving from God the fruits of our labors. We are presented with innumerable chances to express our gratitude to the Lord.
Unfortunately, it’s mostly during tough times—times when we might be wondering how we’re going to pay the electric bill or put food on the table—that tend to bring us down to our knees, causing us to cry out to God for direction or insight to His provision.
God’s Provision Comes In Many Forms
Throughout Scripture we see many examples of God showing up right when He is most needed. We can see this in the book of Esther, especially when she approaches the king without being invited in Esther 8:3-8.
In that time, to approach the king without invitation was a death sentence. But God’s provision was with Esther, and King Ahasuerus extended his scepter toward her—a sign of approval—she was then able to state her plea for her people the Jews and ultimately save them all from imminent death.
Something we have to keep in mind during those hard times—something that can be hard to hear when we’re in the trenches—is that God still hears our prayers. He is still with us.
And even though we don’t understand why on earth He is forcing us to endure such a painful trial, He has already provided for all our needs (Phil 4:19). It is during the hard times, that we’re meant to experience God’s presence and abounding faithfulness in an even deeper, more profound way.
You see, without suffering, we cannot become more life Christ (Jm 1:2-4). We cannot learn to endure and grow in our dependence on the Lord. The thing is we weren’t designed to walk through this life alone. We were made to be in fellowship and communion with the one who created us.
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What To Expect
With these thoughts in mind, let’s take a deeper look at what it’s like to experience God’s unexpected provision. Let’s examine the various forms that God’s blessings can have. We’re going to take a closer look at various Biblical accounts and see how God provides in unexpected ways, for those who trust Him and seek His will.
Through our examination, the goal will be to gain a deeper understanding of what it truly means to trust in the Lord with our hearts (Prov 3:5-6) so that we can be even better ambassadors for Christ during this holiday season.
God’s Provision Through Unexpected Relationships
I was 27-years-old when I married the love of my life. In the Christian community and the Latino community this is considered “older.” In 19th century terms, I was an old maid. Ever since graduating high school at 17, I’d tried to move out and live my own, independent life. Multiple times, throughout my early 20s, I moved out and tried finding my own life away from my parents.
Growing up, my dad and I had a strained relationship and that tension really pushed me to seek my own freedom. In our family, women don’t traditionally move out until they are married.
While I’d tried living on my own in the dorms at school or living with other relatives, all my attempts had fallen through, but I was determined to find a way. Like many desperate people, I resorted to online dating.
After several attempts, with several different men, I finally met someone that I thought I could really see myself with forever. Little did I know that this man was not as great as he made himself seem. Fortunately, while we were still dating, he began to show his true colors. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t break things off until I had suffered some serious emotional trauma.
After breaking things off with him, I vowed to just be single and stop trying to find independence because clearly it wasn’t meant for me. The funny thing about this is that it didn’t last very long.
In January 2020, my sister and I decided to move out together with the plan for her to attend a university and I would find full time work. The irony of this last failed attempt was that the pandemic hit while we were just beginning to settle into our “new” life.
To Sum Things Up
Without turning this into a memoir of my life, the pandemic ultimately forced us to move back to our parents’ house. The beauty of all of this was that my now husband was a dear friend of mine who I’d been keeping in touch with while my sister and I had been away.
When we got back, this beautiful man and I began dating and come June of the following year, we got married.
I share all that to illustrate how even though I felt like I had lost all hope of experiencing my dream life. One of freedom, marriage, and independence.
Ultimately, God provided for me in so many unexpected ways.
He used my choices and experiences to shape who I am today. Without those somewhat poor decisions and not so pleasant experiences, I wouldn’t be able to testify that God shows up. He never fails to show up.
How God Provided For Ruth In Unexpected Ways
Ruth had a similarly traumatic experience. She married a godly man, joined his family—leaving hers, which was the custom—and was living the life she was supposed to live. Or so she thought. Not long after they’d been married—the Bible isn’t clear on how long—her husband dies.
Now, in Ruth’s time, a widowed woman would end up marrying her brother-in-law, if the husband had brothers, in order to carry on the family name. This custom was also a way for the brother to honor his deceased brother.
The problem here was that Ruth’s brother-in-law was also married, but then he died too. Leaving both Ruth and her sister-in-law Orpah as childless widows.
Ruth Experiences Great Losses, But Refuses Give Up Hope
To make matters worse, Ruth’s father-in-law had died a while back, leaving Naomi a widow. After having later lost both her sons, she was a bitter childless widow who wanted nothing more than to disappear.
In Ruth 1:4-15, we see how Naomi and her daughters-in-law left the place where they’d lived and made their way toward Judah—Naomi’s hometown. On the way, Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to go back to their families so that they can find husbands and be redeemed from their losses.
Now, even after being pressured to leave, Ruth refuses to leave her mother-in-law. In those days, when a woman married, she joined that family. For Ruth to leave her mother-in-law, even with Naomi’s permission to do so, was something that Ruth wasn’t willing to live with.
Ruth showed great loyalty and courage by staying with Naomi, despite Orpah choosing to leave.
How It All Comes Together
Because of Ruth’s faith and loyalty, God decided to use her to bring about Jesus’ family line through David, who would later become King.
In chapter two of Ruth, we see how God leads Ruth to her final destination. “She happened to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family” (Ruth 2:3b, HCSB). To give you some context, Elimelech was Naomi’s husband.
Ruth had asked her mother-in-law if she should go and gather the grain leftover by the harvester’s to help provide food for the two of them. Naomi approves and Ruth goes on her way. Little does she know that the field she is in belongs to the man that God is going to use to redeem her situation.
Fast forward, Naomi instructs Ruth to follow a risque custom in order to seek Boaz’ redemption of her. The concept of this redemption is known as the kinsman redeemer.
In those days, if a young woman of child-bearing age was left widowed and there were no brothers to redeem her on her husband’s behalf, then the next eligible man in line would be responsible for doing this act of redemption.
Boaz Redeems Ruth
Boaz, being the honorable and responsible man that he is, informs Ruth that there is another redeemer that is before him. He would need to seek him out and see if that man would be willing to do this duty.
As you study the book of Ruth, you’ll learn that throughout the time that Ruth was harvesting grain in Boaz’ fields, Boaz learns of all that she has done for her mother-in-law. He rewards her loyalty by offering her protection and free reign to harvest all the grain she can carry.
Also, throughout this time, Boaz falls in love with Ruth. So you can imagine that the thought of another man getting to redeem her would have been infuriating to him.
But, don’t worry, Boaz is a wise man. He shrewdly presents the situation to the other redeemer. When the man refuses to redeem Ruth, Boaz becomes free to do so. The amazing thing about this is that the other redeemer passed up a great opportunity.
The chance for more wealth because he would have acquired all of Ruth’s deceased husband’s assets, and would have also been able to join the lineage of Jesus. What a silly man, not that he knew of course.
How It All Adds Up
While I wasn’t a widow in need of customary redemption, I was a woman longing to be for the life I’d always dreamed of. This may seem silly to some, but being a wife and mom have always been my dream (on top of having my own online business).
While I’m not a mom yet, I get to have the best husband ever. God used this wonder man to provide for me the life that I’d always dreamed of. A life of peace and freedom.
God did the same for Ruth. All she wanted was to be loyal to her mother-in-law as was customary. She wanted to be faithful to Naomi’s religion (Judaism) and God blessed her faithfulness. He honored her desire to please and serve Him by pleasing and serving her mother-in-law.
He redeemed her situation by giving her a godly man who would not only do what was expected of him customarily, but would also love her as a godly woman ought to be loved.
My situation may not have been dire. I live in the 21st century where women are free to work, own property, and live on their own. But I was stuck. I didn’t personally see a way out of my situation that made sense to me. I’m not going into too much detail for the sake of privacy, but the point is that God does truly provide in unexpected ways.
My husband was not a man that I would’ve noticed in that way. He was always a dear friend, but he wasn’t who I had expected to be the man that God had for me. It took me a while to realize that he was the one (yes, I believe in that) and to be willing to open my heart to him.
The Bottom Line
Like Ruth, I finally allowed the Lord to show me what He truly wanted for my life. Ruth had to have a great faith and courage to stay with Naomi and ultimately to marry Boaz, who by the way was quite a bit older than her.
Similarly, I had to choose to give in to the Holy Spirit’s leading toward my now husband. The Lord has used my husband to provide for me financially as my anxiety disorder makes holding a full time job very difficult for me.
While I wouldn’t dare to compare myself to Ruth’s character and calling on her life (the great, great, great…grandmother of our Lord and Savior) I can find areas of faith and courage where I can relate with her.
God’s Provision Through Trials and Hardship
We’ve all had those experiences where we weren’t sure how things would turn out. Since moving to Guam, things have been a bit rough for us. As we approach the last several months of our time here, we continually reflect on why it is that God allowed us to come here. When I say it’s been rough, it’s an understatement.
The thing is, though, that we all experience seasons in our lives where things are not going well. You might be having marital issues, maybe you’ve lost a child, or maybe you’ve been trying to have a baby but nothing is working.
All in all, trials and suffering are part of this life because we live in a sinful and lost world.
For Joseph, things were really bad for a long time. First his brothers tried to kill him, then they decided to sell him into slavery. Yeah, not fun.
The thing with Joseph, though, is that he didn’t allow his horrendous situation to get him down. I honestly wish that I could ask him for some tips. “How’d you manage to survive being wrongfully imprisoned without going insane?” Of course, I know the answer would be his faith in God’s promises, but that doesn’t make things any easier to handle in the moment.
How God Provided For Joseph In Unexpected Ways
See, after everything Joseph dealt with, God ultimately showed up. The Lord provided for him, his family, and the whole region in the most unexpected ways. Joseph went from being a slave to being Pharaoh’s second in command.
In Genesis 50:20, Joseph not only forgives his brothers for their evil deeds against him, but he testifies to them. “You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people” (HCSB).
What Joseph is referring to here is that there was a great famine that followed seven years of abundance. All the lands were barren, the animals dying, and the people starving.
Because of God’s plan, Joseph went from being a slave to a position of great power in Egypt. And God used Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream—a warning about a future famine that would leave the lands and people desolate.
Not only did God use Joseph to store food for those seven years of famine, but to also save the Jewish people from dying dying of starvation. Then, all of Joseph’s family were invited to come and live in Egypt. Because of God’s provision, there was plenty of food for all the people and animals.
The Bottom Line
No matter what you’re going through, even if you can’t currently see a way out, know that God will come through. He will provide for you a way to come out of whatever you’re dealing with.
Even if you’ve been where you are for as long as you can remember, the Lord is with you, even in the darkest moments of your life. The Lord our God, Savior, Creator, Provider, Healer, Friend, will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb 13:5).
Conclusion: Living with Confidence in God’s Harvest Blessings
For the sake of preventing this article from becoming a book, I’m going to close things all here. When we study the Bible, we can find a myriad of ways where God provided in unexpected ways. The Bible is truly the perfect place for Christians’ seeking to grow spiritually to see examples of our God’s faithfulness.
Of course, we can also look at history. There, we ca find examples of Christians who put their faith and trust in God. And, as a result, experienced great provision in times of great tragedy.
It’s my hope that this article would serve as a reminder to you. No matter who you are or where you are in life, that God is always faithful. When we seek Him, we will find Him, when seek Him with all our heart (Jer 29:13).
Don’t give up on God. Even if He seems far off, He is with you. Just close your eyes and seek His presence. He will show up and utterly amaze you. I can attest to that!
