When you think about it, the world we live in isn't so different from the world of the Old Testament. Human relationships are far from happy far too much of the time. People find it hard to make lasting friendships. Erich Fromm in a book called 'The Sane Society' observed that 'There is not much love to be found in the world today. Now, whether we're any different from past generations is hard to tell but the reality is that lasting friendships, even lasting marriages are hard to achieve.
People feel isolated, tensions in relationships are commonplace.
Ethnic tension, divorce, suicide, are all on the increase. More and more people are living alone, whether by choice or by circumstances. But the encouragement that this story of Ruth brings is that you and I can do something about it. We may only be one or two people, but we can make a difference. So often God uses individual believers as the catalyst to bring about change in those around them.