I grew up in government housing with a single momma. Life was not easy. I can remember more than one time when our apartment was broken into. I didn’t always wear the nicest clothes or have the best toys. We didn’t always have healthy food to eat, either. But it was the only life I knew, and I have fond memories from my childhood.

In fact, growing up poor didn’t seem abnormal. Everyone else that lived in our housing complex only had a momma, like me, and their lives looked quite similar to my own.

I can’t imagine, though, what life was like for my mom. Now that I am an adult and father to two children, I wonder how I would feel if I was a single parent with the sole responsibility for my children’s livelihood on my shoulders. That would be a weighty task and a lonely one too. As a pastor, I also counsel single mommas in these same shoes today. I hear their stories and my heart breaks for them, as I know God’s heart does. Poverty causes so many pains. There is a desperation to fulfill daily needs, like food and shelter; a desperation born out of lacking job securities, insufficient funds, systemic injustices, relational struggles and more.

Incredibly, the Bible has a lot of encouragement for women facing these struggles today. The Book of Ruth is full of encouragement for the hurting woman. The widow, Naomi, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth, are both single, their husbands are dead, and they are living in poverty. They have just returned to Bethlehem, but as we see in Ruth 2, they have no food, and they are starving. They are in desperate need of help and, in what follows, we not only see God’s hand over their lives, but also His pleasure in them too.

Ruth’s Desperation

Ruth is prompted by their povertized state to go find scraps of food in the local fields.

This was a somewhat common thing in Israel, so common that farmers intentionally left food behind in their fields for the poor people to collect. In fact, God commands farm owners to do this. Leviticus 19:9 reads, “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” God wants landowners, generally, the wealthier, to deliberately leave the grain in the corners of their fields and whatever grain didn’t get picked up the first time for those who were economically vulnerable. So, Ruth is hoping that there will be a land owner who will abide by this command from God.

After Naomi agrees to the idea, Ruth begins this work immediately. Notice the quick succession of verbs in Ruth 2:3. She set out, she went, and she gleaned. Here, Ruth is presented as a woman of action. She’s a doer. She is going to let others dictate her destiny. Moreover, she’s got people to take care of. Her mother-in-law is too old to work; she’s too old to remarry. Naomi is even more vulnerable than Ruth is, and she can’t do anything to help herself. So, Ruth sets out to act. She can’t sit back. People depend on her. 

The Ruths of Today

I’m sure there are women reading this that can relate to Ruth’s predicament. Some of y’all women have gone through the ringer like Ruth.

Maybe you’re a single mother and you’ve been one for years. Let me tell you, sister, that God looks upon your struggles and notices that you haven’t quit. You haven’t abandoned your family. God looks upon that and He smiles. He takes delight in you. He is proud to see you giving your all to keep your family afloat. Please know that God hasn’t abandoned you; He never will. He is by your side, as He was with Ruth. So, keep fighting. Don’t quit. I know it’s hard. I know it’s hard. Keep pushing. Your kids will thank you one day and, above all, know that God is pleased with you. 

Still, some of y’all women are sisters, and you’ve virtually been a mother to your siblings. For you too, God sees your efforts, your sacrifices for your family, and He takes delight in you. Keep going, sisters.

For all the other mommas reading this, know that God sees your struggles too. He’s well aware of all those late nights with your kids. He sees the sacrifices you’ve made for your family, and He is pleased with you.

And for the rest of the women who haven’t quit on their families, who keep working hard, who are laboring to love others, keep doing it, ladies, God sees you.

You Are To Be Praised

I highlight all these women because I want you to know that the Bible praises women like you.

The world around may not take notice; the world around may be pushing you down; people in your life may have left you; folks may be dogging you and speaking ill of you. But, you know what? The Bible, God’s word, praises women like you and the proof is in Ruth 2. So, keep going, ladies! Follow in the steps of Ruth. Amen?

Sister, God looks upon your struggles and notices that you haven’t quit. You haven’t abandoned your family. You're still working hard. God looks upon that and He smiles. Click To Tweet