Any Doubts? God Builds Your Faith!

We left off last week looking at Naomi's almost relentless trust in God. Changing her name to "Mara" (Ruth 1:20) did not mean she was bitter against God in her heart. She wasn't. It only reflects the bitter experience she had in Moab where God dealt harshly with her. The lesson we learned was that soometimes God empties us, but only to fill us again with His gioodness. We learned of God's unchanging faithfulness and dependability. Naomi's realization was that God never forsakes us. No matter what may be happenning in your life, God is there and He is actively at work in your life, watching over you and taking care of you.

The title figure of the book now becomes the focus. The first thing to notice about Ruth is that she is a foreigner, outside the covenant community. Yet she is going to be brought into the royal line of the King of kings because of God's grace and her faith in His covenant-love. At first her faith was a borrowed faith. It was Naomi's faith in which Orpah and Ruth shared. But God builds that faith in Ruth.

Ruth apparently was moved by the quality of Naomi's faith in the face of all her trials, and she wanted to share it. She knew that Naomi's God could be relied on. Even a little faith may be called on to face great testing, as Ruth was through her bereavement, her poverty as a widow, and her leaving behind the prospect of marriage in Moab if she decided to go with Naomi. She was further tested by the return of Orpah to their homeland, but through it all she "clung" to Naomi (Ruth 1:14), and by clinging to Naomi, she came to believe in Naomi's God.

Verse 16 expresses Ruth's decision in memorable terms: "But Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.'" Ruth's loyalty to Naomi is shown to have its roots in her loyalty to Naomi's God ("your God, my God," v. 16b). What began as a borrowed faith is now declared to be her own, and her further statement in verse 17 reveals her commitment to the powerful, sovereign hand of God over her life: "Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me."

This is undoubtedly the turning point in Ruth's life, but she is brought to it along a path of suffering, disappointment, and grief. In her way, she too meets God when she is at the end of her rope. Yet is was then that she was ready to put her life in His hands.

Whatever our past or present experience, the moment of change always comes at the point where we are prepared to stop fighting God and to start trusting Him, to stop going it alone and start giving it to God, to determine never to go back to our old way of life but to bring our emptiness to God and move forward into the unknown with Him. Your faith may begin small, but as God brings you through the trials of life, He builds your faith.

The chapter ends by reminding us that the barley harvest was beginning, just as Naomi and Ruth arrived at Bethlehem (v. 22). There will be food for them both, and who knows what other possibilities may lie ahead of them in the providence of God? The chapter ends on an upbeat note, because the future is always as bright as the promises of God for those who trust Him. As Paul said, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God" (2 Cor. 1:20, NIV). Amen.

Feel Deserted? God Never Forsakes You!

Barb and I returned home to Stanzel Tuesday evening after Barb spent the better part of ten days in Mayo Clinic's Methodest Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, fighting pneumonia. She was very sick with fluid gathering in her lungs and abdomen, and around her heart. It is all cleared up now, and she is doing much better. She is stronger and walking without a walker or cane again. Thank you all for your prayers. Keep praying for her continued improvement. God bless all of you richly. Now to today's Bible Insight.

We saw in Ruth 1:1-5, how Naomi learned a great lesson about the God she loved and trusted so much. That lesson was that, no matter how bad things seemed to get in your life, God is there. When you are at the end of your rope, God is there!

The turning point for Naomi comes with a direct intervention by the Lord. He corrects the situation that indirectly led to her problems. God comes to the aid of His people by providing food: "Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had visited His people by giving them bread" (Ruth 1:6). The situation having changed, Naomi decides to go back empty to Bethlehem, meaning the House of Bread, where she really belongs. Though a common-sense response to outward circumstances, spiritually it is a move toward the Lord, not away from Him.

God is putting the pieces together for Naomi, although at this stage she isn’t aware of that. She merely does what seems right. As David Jackman says in The Preacher’s Commentary, "This is an interesting feature of the theology of this book. There is not the faintest hint that the total control being exercised by the Lord in any way limits the freedom of activity of the people involved. But as the book proceeds, we see the detailed and delicate way in which God in fact works all their actions together into His plan." (The Preacher's Commentary: Judges, Ruth, Vol. 7 [Thomas Nelsonn Publishers, Nashville, 1991 by Word, Inc.)

The more the story seems to hide the hand of God, the more it actually affirms His total sovereignty. This story shows that God does not act on occasion, but continuously. Though He may appear to step into the scene at given key moments, He is actually actively there every moment, although hidden. That reality sees Naomi through the midst of life’s bitterness and keeps her trusting the Lord, even when she cannot see where He is leading her.

Professor Ronald M. Hals in The Theology of the Book of Ruth writes: "While in the Book of Judges the Lord is described as periodically stepping in to punish or deliver his people, here he remains on the scene every moment, but hidden. While in the Book of Judges he acts through charismatic agents and in holy wars, here he acts in the needs and hopes of ordinary people... So deeply has the author hidden God’s directing of history that the thread of God’s plan disappears completely into the tapestry of everyday events." (Ibid)

That is the point of Scripture. It is written to reveal God’s view of the uncertainties of this life. Only when we, like Naomi, learn to see God’s hand in every moment of life can we truly begin to understand His sovereignty and omnipotence. Yet in everything, we only understand what God has chosen to reveal. As Moses said, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29). God reveals His work in our lives through Scripture so that we might do all His words. To recognize that is to realize why Paul said, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

Look at the evidence of Naomi’s faith, in spite of all she was enduring. First, Naomi prays for her two daughters-in-law. She instructs them to return to their people in Moab and she asks the Lord to be with them and deal kindly with them there (Ruth 1:8). She prayed for rest and a new husband to provide for each of them (v. 9). Then, in verse 10 when they, through their fears, state that they want to go with her, she reminds them of the consequences (vs. 11-13). She can no longer bear them any husbands, so they need to return and trust the Lord to provide for them in their hometowns.

The key statement in verses 6–13 is found in verse 13b where Naomi openly recognizes God’s hand in her circumstances: "It grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me!" These words demonstrate how she met her bitter experience with acceptance and trust. There is pain and anger in this verse, but there is also honesty and faith, for Naomi knows that her life is in God’s hands.

These things have not happened by chance. God rules. How else can we comfort one another when we are facing life’s tragedies? If we deny God’s sovereignty, we have to say, in effect, that God’s back was turned, which means that either He didn’t know or didn’t care. What sort of a God is that? No, we have to admit that we cannot know why a particular tragedy has happened, but then that is not what would help us most, anyway. We want to come to the point, with Job, where we can say amid all the tears and pain and anger, "though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). That is not submitting blindly, but actively cooperating with the God of all power, all wisdom, and all love, who is working all things together for the good of those whom He loves, as the Book of Ruth will go on to prove.

But first lets take a close look at the end of this chapter, which speaks clearly of the bitter life Naomi had lived thus far. Having returned to Bethlehem, everyone was excited to see her again, though somewhat startled by what they saw: "Is this Naomi?" (Ruth 1:19). Then we see even more clearly Naomi’s almost relentless trust in God: "But she said to them, 'Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?'" (vs. 20–21).

The contrast observed by her friends must have been startling to them (v. 19). But the fact that she calls herself "Mara" does not mean that she was bitter against God in her own heart, but rather that her experience had been bitter, and, for some reason which she could not understand, God had dealt harshly with her.

We need to be reminded that the Lord does sometimes empty us, but only in order to fill us with His goodness. The name by which Naomi refers to “the Almighty” is El Shaddai. No one is exactly sure of its meaning, though it is common to relate it to the idea of mountain-like stability, or to God’s attribute of unchanging faithfulness and dependability. She knowingly makes a conscious decision to place all her pain, bitter experiences, and hopelessness within the structure of God’s sovereignty, and she leaves the explanation and responsibility with Him. She realizes that God never forsakes us.

That is a great lesson for us. No matter what is happening in life, God is there, actively at work in your life. He cares for you and watches over you at every moment. He never forsakes you. So trust Him with all your heart and look to Him in all things, for He cares for you and He will take care of you and meet all your needs. Amen.

At the End of Your Rope? God Is There!

Barb has been getting weaker by the day for a week or so. Sunday afternoon I called the ambulance and they took her to the Greenfield hospital, She has fluid on her lungs, possibly from an infection. Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota sent their airplane to fly her up there. I am headed that way this morning. Pray for her health and a speedy recovery. Pray for her strength to return as well. Thanks.

Now for today's Bible Insight. In an article entitled, When God Is Out to Get Us, W. Gary Phillips tells this story: "There was once a lady who came from one of the older established families in town. Old money. Social status. Her family went to the “first church.” She and her husband had two sons. He decided to relocate the family to greener pastures in a different town, where he thought life would be more pleasant. But he died of a sudden heart attack at age forty-eight. The business venture into which he had put all their money went bankrupt, and the family was left penniless. The two boys had to quit high school and go to work. In order to make ends meet the boys took a second job at a factory, late shift. They also married girls outside their race and religion, which was hard for their mother to adjust to. One night returning home at 2:00 a.m., the older brother fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road. Both sons were killed. The woman who had previously had it all, now had nothing! She felt that God was against her. She told the girls to go home to their parents. One did, one did not." (W. Gary Phillips, Holman Old Testament Commentary: Judges, Ruth, [Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2004], 301)

Sound familiar? This is a fictional story, yet it is found in the first chapter of Ruth; just change a few details and transport the family back in time about three thousand years. As you see in Ruth chapter one, God’s people suffer greatly at times. When bad things happen to good people, how do we hold on to our faith in a loving God? Naomi became embittered against God, yet she still believed! She gave up on God’s goodness for a while, but she never gave up on God.

The Book of Ruth may have originally been written as part of the Book of Judges. (The Jewish Talmud refers to them as one book.) The last two stories of Judges (chapters 17-21) and the story of Ruth, all occur around the small village of Bethlehem. That is why these three stories are often referred to as the Bethlehem trilogy. The difference in the stories is one of demeanor. The last two stories in Judges are negative, pointing out man’s basic problem: sin. Ruth, however, is positive and speaks of redemption; the redemption of a family which points to the future redemption of mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Going back to the story I began with, how would you react to such a tragedy in your life? Perhaps you have experienced something similar. If so, how did you react? How do you maintain your faith in God when bad things happen to good people? Do you become embittered against God and give up on Him? Or do you continue to have faith, and trust that God will take care of you and make you all the better as a result?

I am reminded of Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." As we will see here in chapter one, Naomi had a hard time, but she never let go of her faith and trust in God. When confronted with difficult circumstances in life, she knew that God is always there.

The problems Naomi faced came about because of her husband’s decision well over ten years before. Yet that decision was made in response to circumstances that were quite outside his control. The famine of verse 1, may have been an act of God’s judgment through drought, or because of marauding invaders, like the Midianites in Gideon’s day as recorded in Judges 6. It is likely that this story occurred around the time of Gideon. Whatever the cause, the fact remains that at Bethlehem (which means "the house of bread") the supply had stopped and a man whose name means "my God is King," made the difficult decision to take his wife and two sons off to live as resident aliens in the land of Moab, about fifty miles southeast of Bethlehem.

Was he right or wrong? The biblical text does not encourage us to be dogmatic, but certainly the decision was questionable. Why go off to a country and people whose god Chemosh demanded human sacrifice? Why join a nation whose king Eglon had pressed Israel into servitude for eighteen years (Judg. 3:14)? At the time Elimelech chose to go to Moab, it seems that Israel and Moab must have been on friendly terms, and clearly Elimelech had no intention of staying there forever. It was just "for a while," during the famine.

Although they would not be Moabite citizens, they would be able to make a living, food would be more plentiful, and no one would stop them from practicing their religion because all religions were allowed. It seemed like a good deal. But decisions like this can have life-changing effects for generations.

Was Elimelech turning his back on the Lord? There is certainly no record in the text that he consulted God about it. Was it lack of faith on his part? The fact that he was an Ephrathite (v. 2) probably means that he belonged to a well-established, even wealthy family, and certainly Naomi’s remark in verse 21 would seem to support this: "I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty." She not only contrasts the conditions in which she left and returned ("full" and "empty") but also the different reasons behind her experiences: "I went out full," but "the LORD has brought me home again empty."

Were material comforts and prosperity too high on Elimelech’s agenda? Certainly the purpose of the move, to escape discomfort and death, was not fulfilled (vs. 3, 5). First the father and then Mahlon ("sickly") and Chilion ("failing") died. It is clear that the names were intended to be significant. They were Canaanite names frequently in use, which may again imply a detachment from the worship of the Lord God.

Whatever the reasons for Elimelech’s decision, Naomi is left, widowed and childless, without sons or grandsons to continue the family line, which is a situation of great deprivation and despair. All this has happened in a foreign land, far away from the support of those who speak her language or worship her God. Yet, equally clear, Naomi is a believer in the Lord. Ruth’s subsequent confession of faith in God (v. 16) confirms that: "But Ruth said: 'Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.'"

Still Naomi is at the end of her rope. That is seen in the changing of her name in verse 20 from Naomi ("pleasant") to Mara ("bitter"). Can the God she believed in really be at the other end of the rope? Clearly that is the message here. When you come to the end of your rope, God is there. When things happen and you find yourself asking "where did I go wrong?" or "why did God let this happen to me?" remember, God is there. When you need Him most, He is there. Look to Him in faith and He will see you through even the toughest of circumstances. Amen.

Pray the Harvesters into the Harvest

In Matthew 9:37-38, Jesus calls you to action: "Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.'"

This is a pivotal passage about bridging the gap between Jesus’ ministry and ours, so that we have the same kind of ministry that He had. I would love to have the compassion that Jesus had, but that is not the only thing Jesus talks about. He speaks to His disciples at this pivotal moment, giving them something to believe and something to do. So this passage also gives us something to believe and something to do.

What does Jesus tell us to believe? He says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (v. 37). He switches metaphors from shepherding to farming. And what He tells us is that the harvest is ready. In other words, people are ready to receive the good news of the kingdom. People are ripe for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are ready to receive Jesus as theitr Lord and and Savior, but they need to be shown the way!

The problem isn’t that people are unready to receive the good news; the problem is that we aren’t ready to tell them! "The workers are few" (v. 37b). Imagine a farmer with fields ready to be harvested, but workers who are AWOL or non-existent. Jesus looks around Him and He sees people who are helpless and harassed and ready to hear the good news of the gospel. The problem is, there is nobody to tell them. The question is, who will go into the harvest?

So let me ask: Do you believe the harvest is plentiful? The harvest is plentiful all around us! Do you believe that? Jesus gives it to us as something for us to believe. One of the greatest lies of the devil is to convince us that people aren’t interested, that it’s a waste of time to tell them. The harvest is plentiful! God has prepared them! There are many yet to be reached with the gospel of the kingdom and there is an urgency. They are ready to hear. This is what He tells us to believe. Do you believe it?

Note the urgency of evangelism: It is theologically urgent, because of what God has revealed, including the truth that there is a heaven and hell. It is spiritually urgent, because people are utterly lost spiritually apart from Christ. It is physically urgent, because death is coming for all and with it the opportunity to respond to the gospel will be past. It is statistically urgent, because many people in our community have not yet heard the gospel or been invited to respond to it. It is strategically urgent, because God chose to use the church as His strategy for reaching the lost. It is personally urgent, because each of us must respond to God's call. (DashHouse.com)

So if we believe that people are ready, what does Jesus tell us to do? Surely He would say, "Get out there and tell them!" But that is not what Jesus said. Surprisingly, He said, "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest" (v. 38).

Why would Jesus tell us to pray instead of doing something? He wants action. In the very next chapter, remember, He is going to instruct His disciples and then send them out to preach and teach and do the things that He has done. But He knows that before we can have the ministry that He has, we must have the same prayerful reliance on the Father that He has. Before we have the compassion of Jesus, we must have the connection with the Father that He has.

Warren Wiersbe said, "When we pray as He commanded, we will see what He saw, feel what He felt, and do what He did. God will multiply our lives as we share in the great harvest that is already ripe." (Ibid)

It is one thing for us to go and do. It is another thing altogether to plead with God that He would raise up people—either through conversion or growth—who are ready to go; to pray that God would give them a spirit for the work, call them to it, and give them wisdom and success.

Matthew Henry said, "It is a good sign God is about to bestow some special mercy upon a people, when He stirs up those that have an interest at the throne of grace, to pray for it" (Ibid). God is up to something when we begin to pray like Jesus commands us in this passage.

When we start to believe that the harvest is plentiful and we pray that He would send out workers, you never know if we may become the answers to our own prayers. Perhaps we would be the workers commissioned by the Lord of the harvest. Being involved in evangelism is a core discipline of the faith. It is something God calls each of us to do—to reach out and reach the lost. Amen.