{"id":98617,"date":"2026-10-20T10:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=98617"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T15:35:11","slug":"good-times-in-bad-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/good-times-in-bad-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Times in Bad Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>The late radio news commentator Paul Harvey would sometimes report on some horrific situation, then he&#8217;d turn his attention to an uplifting story by saying, &#8220;Now wash your ears out with this.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That reminds me of the book of Ruth. Ruth lived during the time of the judges, when &#8220;<em>every man did that which was right in his own eyes<\/em>&#8221; (Judges 17:6; 21:25). That era is called the Dark Ages of Israel, when God&#8217;s people were inclined to idolatry, godlessness, and immorality, resulting in horrible consequences.<\/p>\n<p>But despite all that, the book of Ruth is like a breath of fresh air. It is a book of blessings pronounced on others:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>by Naomi on her daughters-in-law (Ruth 1:8-9);<\/li>\n<li>by Boaz and his harvesters on one another (Ruth 2:4);<\/li>\n<li>by Boaz on Ruth (Ruth 2:10-13);<\/li>\n<li>by Naomi on Boaz (Ruth 2:19-20);<\/li>\n<li>once again by Boaz on Ruth (Ruth 3:10);<\/li>\n<li>by the people of Bethlehem on Boaz (Ruth 4:11-12);<\/li>\n<li>and by the women on Naomi (Ruth 4:14-15).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This little book is a pure gem-so beautifully demonstrating God&#8217;s Providence at work behind the scenes through people and circumstances. The book closes with a reference to David, the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth, and the ancestor of &#8220;great David&#8217;s greater Son&#8221; (Luke 3:31-32; Matthew 1:5-6; 22:41-46).<\/p>\n<p>The good news for our day is that God is still at work in His world, despite all the violence, corruption, divisiveness, and rejection of moral standards. God is more than able to bring good out of evil (Romans 8:28). The darker the darkness, the more brightly His providence and His truth shine through.<\/p>\n<p>So like Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, let&#8217;s live right, bless and encourage one another, and hope in God.<\/p>\n<p>He will bring us through!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson The late radio news commentator Paul Harvey would sometimes report on some horrific situation, then he&#8217;d turn his attention to an uplifting story by saying, &#8220;Now wash your ears out with this.&#8221; That reminds me of the book of Ruth. Ruth lived during the time of the judges, when &#8220;every man did&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1095,245,188],"class_list":["post-98617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-blessings","tag-ruth","tag-trials"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/ruth-a-woman-of-virtue\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":0},"title":"Ruth &#8211; A Woman of Virtue","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ross Ward Text: Ruth 3:11 Defining Virtuous Brown Driver & Briggs - strength, might, efficiency, wealth, army Strong's - probably a force; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength Army 56x Man of valor 37x Host 29x Forces 14x Valiant 13x Strength 12x Riches 11x Wealth 10x Power 9x Substance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-naomi-related-to-obed-in-any-way\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":1},"title":"Was Naomi related to Obed in any way?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was Naomi Obed's grandmother or even related to him in any way? Answer: Obed was the son born to Boaz and Ruth. Ruth was Naomi's widowed daughter-in-law. She had married Naomi's son who had died. Boaz married Ruth in part because he was a near kinsman to Ruth's husband.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-ruth-uncover-boazs-feet\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":2},"title":"Why did Ruth uncover Boaz&#8217;s feet?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Ruth uncover Boaz's feet? Answer: In the story of Ruth, Ruth worked in the fields as a charity case to supply food for her mother-in-law and herself. Ruth didn't realize it, but the field she selected was owned by a relative of her deceased father-in-law. Boaz spoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1034,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-lessons-can-we-learn-from-boaz\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":3},"title":"What lessons can we learn from Boaz?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The relationship between Boaz and his workers was enviable. Is it possible today? Why or why not? Answer: The story of Boaz is found in the book of Ruth. While you appear to think highly of Boaz's relationship with his servants, there is actually little material to draw upon.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-raised-obed\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":4},"title":"Who raised Obed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just finished Ruth. In Ruth 4:16, it states,\u00a0\"Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse\".\u00a0 There is a footnote in the NASB that says the term, \"laid in her lap\" is an example of taking \"as her own\". So, did Naomi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-the-man-always-make-the-first-move-in-a-relationship\/","url_meta":{"origin":98617,"position":5},"title":"Should the man always make the first move in a relationship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am now in a community where most men at my age are married; only one is single. I think he is a very good person, I don\u2019t dress immodestly like I used to. I think physical attraction would not be important for a man seeing a good woman,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98617"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98620,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98617\/revisions\/98620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}