1-Shattered Dreams: Dead End or Doorway?

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Ruth

Shattered Dreams: Dead End or Doorway?

Ruth 1:1-5; Judges 21:25; Jeremiah 29:11

Go ahead and take your copy of God's Word and turn to the first chapter of the book of Ruth. We're looking at the first five verses this morning. I have the wonderful privilege of every once in a while going to play golf. Coach Marvel takes me to play golf, and every once in a while, we play with a guy by the name of Ed Alvarez.

So one day we're playing golf, and Ed is my partner. I told Ed that I prayed for my golf game. He kind of laughed because he thought I was kidding. I wasn't kidding. I pray for my golf game. I need it. He went on to say, "I don't pray for my golf game…" Of course, that's easy for him to say. He can play. He said, "…because God has bigger things to deal with than my golf game."

Now I would agree with that. In the grand scheme of things, my golf game really isn't that important. It's important to me and probably to the person who is on my team, but really in the grand scheme of things, it's not that important. However, I would disagree with the thought that God doesn't really care about the insignificant things in our lives.

I believe in the providence of God: that is, God is absolutely actively involved in every aspect of our lives. God didn't just create us and leave us on our own. No, God created us, and he is intimately involved with the details of our lives. Now even though my golf game, when it comes to God's unfolding purposes… I doubt it's connected with that. I find great comfort in knowing that God does care for the insignificant things. He does care for those things we would consider unimportant. God wants to be involved in our lives. He does.

What we need to do, what we need to understand is the theological term where we're talking about God's activity in our daily lives… We call that providence. That's the theological term. The providence of God. Understanding the providence of God is crucial when it comes to living a life in a culture that is constantly challenging our faith.

That is true about the book of Ruth, and it's true today. There's great comfort in knowing and great security in knowing this one truth: God is in control. Our God is an eternal God, but he is also a personal God. That means he is involved with the details of our lives. Some people have a hard time with this. Some people have a hard time with this whole concept that God is actively involved with the small, minute details of our lives.

When Jesus taught us how to pray… We call it the Lord's Prayer. It's really not the Lord's Prayer. Jesus never had to ask for forgiveness. It's really the disciples' prayer. When he was teaching us how to pray, do you remember what he said? He said to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." Why would he ask us to do that? Because he is intimately involved in every detail of our lives. God is active in our lives.

So as we come to the book of Ruth, we're starting a series I call Everyday God, God's activity in everyday life. For the next seven weeks, we'll be gleaning some wonderful, wonderful truth from this small, four-chapter book, but a very, very important book. Very important. Even though this was written 1,200 years before Christ, let me kind of give you a background to what Ruth was encountering.

Listen to what it says in verse 1: "In the days when the judges ruled…" So that sets the background for us. That tells us this is happening during the time of judges. It's happening during the time of judges. Really that was a time in the history of Israel, one of the many times, where they were disobedient to God.

In fact, the book of Judges says over and over again that the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served the Baals. The last verse of the last chapter of the book of Judges sums it up very well. The writer of Judges says, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his eyes." Everyone was doing evil. So the situation that's taking place some 1200 BC is one of faithlessness.

So the book of Ruth is really refreshing in the fact that Ruth's faith is in stark contrast to the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. So it's in this climate of apostasy, unfaithfulness, that this beautiful story, the story of Ruth, unfolds. It's a story of faith. It's a story of loyalty. It's a story of love. It's a story of redemption. It's also a story of God's activity in everyday life, God's providence in everyday life.

As I was saying, even though this happened 3,200 years apart from us, the events of Ruth are still taking place today. God is actively involved in our lives. It is my prayer that as we continue this study over the next seven weeks, we begin to see God's activity in our lives more and more. It's my prayer over the next seven weeks that we begin to see everything is connected to God's purpose.

That means everything that happens in our lives is connected to God's purpose. Everything that happens in history is connected to God's purpose. That means our life has purpose. Our life has meaning. Our life has value. "Everyday God" means God is with us always, and he cares for us. He rules over us. He provides for us. So we begin the story today, and the story begins with tragedy. In fact, you could say that the first five verses are all about shattered dreams. A great question is…Are these shattered dreams a dead end, or are they a doorway?

Well, we learn in the first five verses, first of all, that discomfort can lead to distrust. Again, verse 1 really sets the background for our narrative. For it tells us, "In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons."

So the discomfort they were experiencing during this time was famine. The severity of the famine is revealed in the fact that even Bethlehem, which means house of bread, or house of grainery, the abundant source of grain, was experiencing famine in the land. The land of Israel was experiencing famine.

Now the author doesn't tell us why. He doesn't tell us this famine was either a tool of discipline from the Lord or if it was just something that happens by living in a sinful world. It doesn't say. I think the author left it open for a reason because the experiences that are happening here could apply to any family at any time.

Now I would suggest to you that one of the reasons they're facing famine in the land at this point is because of the disobedience and the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel. We have to remember the author doesn't tell us, but he gives us the opportunity to speculate on it. I think we can accurately speculate, if we put it into context, that this famine is a direct result of the unfaithfulness of God's people.

The very fact that it was happening during the time of judges… It was a time when God's people were constantly turning their backs on the Lord. They were breaking the covenant of the Lord. They were turning their backs on God and turning to the false gods. The Lord warned his people in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, "If you turn your back on me, if you turn to false gods, I will bring enmity into the land. I will destroy the crops. I will withhold the seasonal rains." That's what famine is. Famine comes about because God brings about a drought.

So they're having a drought. That's why I believe what they're experiencing here, as the people of Israel, was the direct result of God's discipline. They were unfaithful to God, and now he was disciplining them. Now again, the author doesn't tell us this. He lets us read into it. He leaves it wide open. I believe he does so so we can apply it to any situation.

This man and this family could be any family. The discomfort they're going through could be any discomfort we experience this side of heaven, whether it be for the purpose of correction, like this one, or for the purpose of perfection. When you find yourself in those circumstances where you are experiencing discomfort, the choices we make as believers are very, very important.

This man had to make a choice. We don't have his name yet. We don't even know the names of his family members yet, but we're told in the very first verse that this man made a decision. Based upon the discomfort of the famine, he made a decision. That decision was to leave the house of bread, Bethlehem, and to go to the country of Moab.

Now I believe he purposed to go there at first for a very short time: the very fact that he says his family went there to sojourn. Can you really blame this man? Think about it. Can you really blame him? The logical choice is, "Hey, what's best for your family?" When he made this decision, the situation is basically to go where the grass is greener. So can we really blame him for this decision?

If you think about the situation in Israel, there was a lot of political unrest. They didn't have a king. They didn't have a king at all. They had judges time and time again, and these judges would be lifted up and delivered. So there was this political unrest. There was instability. Of course, there was the economy. It was terrible.

So this man made a decision to leave Bethlehem, and he's in good company. If you look to the Scriptures, you find Abraham. He left the Promised Land. He went to Egypt. Isaac went to Philistia. Jacob, of course, went to Egypt with the whole family. That's when Joseph was there. So from looking at it, from a human perspective, it looks like he made a good decision. Or did he?

Let's look at verse 2. Let's meet this man. It says, "The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there." I want to suggest to you that this man did not make a good decision. In fact, I want to show you from the text that this man made the decision because of his inability to trust the Lord. He took things in his own hands.

First, the names of the people. Remember in the Old Testament, names are very, very important and the meaning of those names. The first name, of course, the man's name is Elimelech, which means my God is king. That name really reveals the faith of his parents. His parents saw that baby boy and said, "My God is King." That was a demonstration of their faith.

Then there is Naomi. Her name means pleasant. Then there are the two sons. Mahlon… Do you know what it means? Sickly. Have you ever heard anybody name their child puny? "Hey, come here, puny." That's basically what Mahlon means. He is puny. Then there, of course, is Chilion, which means, really, to come to an end. It has this idea that it's death.

What's interesting is Elimelech did not use this opportunity to demonstrate his faith like his parents did. Why? Because his faith had faltered. He was no longer focused on the Lord. All he could do is look at his circumstances, and they were bad. There was a famine in the land. So really the names of his children reveal this man had lost his focus of God. He saw his circumstances, and so he names his kids after the circumstances. Sickly, puny, and death. I believe that is evidence of a man who has stopped trusting in God. He has lost his focus.

Secondly, they were Ephrathites. Scholars believe this was royalty. They had money. So they're in a famine. You know the old saying: If you don't have anything, you don't have anything to lose. Well, they had something. They had something to lose. I believe the circumstances caused him to go to the country of Moab to take things into his own hands. Discomfort can lead to distrust.

Thirdly, Yahweh does not appear in these verses. In all the book of Ruth, there are actually six scenes. You will find the name of the Lord, Yahweh, in every scene except one: the first five verses. This means he didn't consult God about this decision.

Plus, there's also a syntactical link between these two verses and the story of Abraham going to Egypt, Genesis, chapter 12, verse 10. There is a syntactical link here. In Genesis 12, Abraham, instead of trusting God in the Promised Land, took things into his own hands. He went to Egypt. Elimelech, instead of trusting God in the house of bread, at Bethlehem, took things into his own hands. He went to the country of Moab. Discomfort can lead to distrust.

Here's what Matthew Henry said about this passage. "It is an evidence of a discontented, distrustful, unstable spirit, to be weary of the place in which God has set us, and to be leaving it immediately whenever we meet with any uneasiness or inconvenience in it." Discomfort can lead to distrust. When that happens, distrust will lead to devastation.

It's very, very easy to justify disobedience in our hearts and even call it the will of God. I really believe Elimelech was thinking, "I think I'll help God out in this famine. I think I'll help him out. I think I'll go to the country of Moab. I hear it's doing well." It's not that far away, by the way, in terms of getting a vehicle and going. Of course, they didn't have a vehicle. It's only 50-60 miles away. It was okay there.

Here's how it starts. Disobedience and distrust happen gradually. Again, I believe Elimelech had all the plans. He was probably thinking, "Hey, I'll go there just for a short while, and then I'll come back." I believe that is what is suggested in verse 1. When it says they went to sojourn in the country of Moab, that word sojourn means to go somewhere temporarily. That was his original plan, but he left that original plan. We're told in the very last part of verse 2, "They went into the country of Moab and remained there."

Distrust, when you take things into your own hands, will lead to devastation. I want you to see the immediate consequences and then the long-term consequences that came about because of Elimelech's decision to take things into his own hands and not trust the Lord. Look at verse 3. There is the immediate consequence. It says, "But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons."

He left the house of bread because he thought, probably, "If I don't leave, we're going to die." So he takes things into his own hands, only to find out that he actually ran to the very thing he was running from: death. In his pursuit of a better life he made things worse for him and his family. Why? How did that happen? He let his discomfort lead him to distrust, and he stopped trusting in God. He took things into his own hands.

Now look at the long-term consequences. So his wife is left with the two sons. It says in verse 4, "These [Mahlon and Chilion] took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about 10 years." Now instead of going back to Bethlehem after Dad died, Naomi and the two sons (and probably under the influence of the two sons, because they were the ones who were going to take care of Naomi), decided, "Hey, we're going to stay here."

They stayed there another 10 years, probably because they were more comfortable with the pagan culture of Moab than they were of Israel. I think the very fact that they're marrying Moabite wives shows their condition. Here's what happened. These two boys grew up. Puny and Death grew up. The very names reveal their daddy wasn't trusting in God. So they grew up watching their dad not trust in the Lord, and guess what happened? They followed in Elimelech's footsteps. They followed in Daddy's footsteps.

Oh, it gets worse, because it says in verse 4, "They lived there about ten years…" Then we come to verse 5: "…and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband." Do you know what we call verse 5? Shattered dreams. She had nothing. She lost her husband. She lost her two sons. All she had left were her two daughters-in-law, and guess what? They didn't have much to offer her.

So her dreams are shattered. No husband. No children. No hopes of grandchildren now. She was just hoping she could have her basic needs met on a daily basis. I imagine here's Naomi going, "Oh my goodness. My dreams are shattered. I'm at a dead end in life. There's no way out. There's no way out."

Here's the good news. There is. I want you to think about a couple of things here before we move on, about this whole idea that distrust will lead to devastation. How many times have we made decisions based upon common sense or logical standard without consulting the Lord or his Word? I think we need to be very careful to examine ourselves, myself included. How many times have we acted like Elimelech? We profess to be Christians, but do we really walk by faith?

Those of us who are husbands and fathers, are we leading our families down the road of faith or a pathway of tragedy and devastation and destruction? Do our families, do our wives and children, see us living a life of faith every day? Do they see within us an abiding trust in Christ Jesus, and that trust is what guides every aspect of our lives?

When problems come our way and we start experiencing discomfort, husbands, dads, do we let them push us toward God or away from God? All of us have experienced the pain and consequences of distrust, and not only our own distrust. Elimelech's affected his whole family. Sometimes we're affected by somebody else's. Distrust leads to devastation.

Here's what I like about the book of Ruth, though. The book of Ruth is a great reminder to the child of God that God really does work all things together for the good of those who love him and are called by him. The story of Ruth is about… What we need to understand is even though there are regrets in our lives and even though we may have made mistakes, we have this wonderful assurance as God's children's that all things work together for good. God can even use our foolishness, and yes, God can use our mistakes for his glory. That's what the story of Ruth is about. God intervened.

So with God, and in God's economy, shattered dreams don't have to be a dead end. In fact, in God's economy, devastation can actually become a doorway for God to do great things. Devastation can become a doorway for God to do great things. Let me give you a couple of truths really quickly. Here's what we can learn from Elimelech. This is something God gave me just in my own personal life.

Stop running from the famine, and start trusting God in the famine. Otherwise, you will always be in the famine. Realize God is good to those who wait. When we don't wait and when we take things into our own hands and we experience devastation, the Bible is all about God taking devastation and turning it into a doorway of opportunity.

Genesis, chapter 3, is a devastating time in the history of humanity because we fell, but it became a doorway for God to do some great things, right? Mainly send his Son to redeem us from our sins. That's what the Bible is about. It's about God taking devastation, taking shattered dreams and using those shattered dreams to become a doorway of opportunity for God to do great things.

One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11. I'm sure many of you have memorized that. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare, not for calamity, not for evil, to give you a hope, to give you a future.'" Now we all love that verse, but before that verse, you have verse 10.

In fact, you have to put that verse in the context of the book of Jeremiah. God says, "For I know the plans I have for you…" but before that he says in verse 10 (and I want to read that to you), "For thus says the LORD: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.'" The 70 years of exile came about because of devastation. They turned their backs on God.

In God's economy, devastation doesn't have to be a dead end. Some of you have made mistakes. You're thinking, "Man, God can't use me then. I'm at a dead end. There's no way out." Devastation can become a doorway for God to do great things. If you're here this morning and your marriage didn't turn out the way you thought it would be, your family didn't turn out the way you thought it would be, your dreams are shattered, do you know what God says to you? "For I know the plans I have for you…"

Your financial portfolio isn't what you thought it would be at this time. Now you're looking to the future, and that future you planned for is not going to happen. Your financial dreams are now shattered. Do you know what God says to you? "For I know the plans I have for you…" Some of you are here this morning, and you've made decisions in the past. You have regrets. You are wondering, "Am I at a dead end? Is there any way out?" Here's what God says to you: "For I know the plans I have for you…"

Devastation doesn't have to be a dead end if you belong to God; devastation can be a doorway for God to do some great things in your life. Shattered dreams… If you belong to God, trust in him, because God can take those shattered dreams and use them as a doorway to do great things in your life. Shattered dreams? Trust in Christ. Return to him. God will take care of you.

If you're here this morning and you've never trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior, that's the most important decision you can make in life. That decision is to place your faith in Jesus Christ, to understand that you're a sinner in need of a Savior and that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and on the third day he rose to life. The Bible says if we'll confess with our mouth that Jesus was Lord and believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead, we can be saved. You can be saved this morning. God wants to save you this morning.

If you're here today and you're not a part of a church family, I believe if you have a family, you have a mini-church, and that mini-church needs to be part of a local church. If you sense God calling you to this church today, I'm going to ask you to get up and come up here and say, "We want to be a part of this church family. We want to serve the Lord here."

If today you're here and your dreams are shattered and you're broken, you're in a very good place for God to do some great things. If you need prayer today, I want to pray with you. We'll have pastors in the back, pastors up front. We'll pray with you. If you're not comfortable with coming up during the invitation, you can come out to the reception area. I'd love to talk with you there as well. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your Word today. We thank you that with you, shattered dreams are not a dead end but a doorway for you to do great things in our lives if we'll just humble ourselves this morning.

God we just pray for that person who doesn't know Christ here this morning, for that man or woman who is sitting here today who has shattered dreams and they think they're in a dead end. Lord, give them hope today. Remind them that you have a plan for their life, that you want to give them purpose and meaning and value in Christ Jesus. We thank you for this Word. We give you all the glory. Have your way during this time of invitation. In Jesus' name, amen.

2-To Dream Again

First Southern Baptist Church

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Everyday God

To Dream Again

Ruth 1:6-22

Ruth, chapter 1. This is a series we're calling Everyday God. The last time we left our story here in the book of Ruth, it ended with devastation. Naomi lost her husband, Elimelech. He died. Ten years later, her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, died, and all she had left were her two daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth. They really didn't have much to offer her, and vice versa. Nevertheless, as we watch this story unfold, we're going to begin to see God use devastation as a doorway for Naomi to dream again.

Naomi is not only going to dream again, but her dreams are going to be better and higher than any dreams she has ever had before. She's not even aware of this. Right now she's in shattered dreams. Right now she's broken. So as we look at this passage today, how do we move on when our dreams are shattered? How do we move forward? How do we really dream again when we feel like we're at a dead end and there's no way out?

How do we move forward through the doorway of devastation? When God is at work in your life, devastation does not have to be a dead end; devastation can become a doorway through which God can enable you to experience great and mighty things in your life. How do we do that? How do we move forward through the doorway of devastation?

Well, I want to point out some theological truths from the passage we're looking at that I believe will help us to dream again. When we find ourselves at a dead end, when we find our dreams and everything we hope for aren't coming about, how do we move forward through the doorway of devastation? If we're going to dream again, if we're going to move through that doorway of devastation…

1. We must realize God is active in everyday life. We pick up the story in verse 6. It says, "Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord…" Yahweh is the name she's using. Yahweh is always used in the context of a people who are in a covenant relationship with God. Naomi is in a covenant relationship with God, and she heard that Yahweh was once again visiting the people of Israel, and it says he was giving them food.

We read in verse 7, "So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah." Naomi hears while she's out in the fields of Moab, "Listen, Yahweh is visiting. The Lord is visiting the people again." What this means is the famine that moved them out of the house of bread, Bethlehem, was now over.

The Hebrew word we translate visited… When it's used in the context of God visiting his people, it's used in two different ways. It's used when God visits his people in judgment, and that's exactly what he was doing. Several years before, he visited the people of Israel, and he did so in judgment and discipline because they had turned their backs on God and they were being unfaithful to God.

It happened during the time of Judges, and everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes. Well, not everybody. There's always a small remnant, but the majority of the people were doing evil in the sight of the Lord, and they were serving the Baals, the false gods. So what does God do? He visits them in judgment.

But not here. Now he's visiting his people once again, not with more judgment, but with blessings. He's bringing them food. Naomi hears about this. She hears that God is visiting Israel, that God is visiting the house of bread, Bethlehem. So what does she do? She moves. She takes her two daughters-in-law and makes her way to Judah.

Now what we have taking place in verse 6… I don't like to use this word, but I think it describes what's happening. It's more than just divine intervention. It is divine intervention, but sometimes when we think about divine intervention we like to think of it in terms of, let's say, Acts, chapter 9. That's where Saul meets Jesus and becomes Paul. He's born again, and he sees the risen Savior. That's divine intervention, right?

Well, this is divine intervention but not in a spectacular way. It's God visiting his people and just removing the famine and allowing them to have food again. On a grander scale, it's divine intervention in the life of Israel, that God is once again visiting his people and blessing them, but on an individual level, as he's intervening in the life of Israel, he's also intervening and actively involved in the life of Naomi.

What we're seeing in verse 6 is God at work. He's moving Naomi in such a way that she is going to be able to dream again. She's not even aware of it yet, but God is up to something new. One commentator said verse 6 shows us that God is putting the pieces of Naomi's life back together. She's not aware of it, but God is doing a new thing. God is positioning her, because he's going to take her from a point of brokenness, and he's going to enable her to dream again and to experience better and higher dreams.

Now on one level, when we look at it, you say, "Well, Naomi is doing the right thing. It's the right thing to return to the Lord. It's the right thing to go back to Bethlehem, the place where her husband should have never left in the first place. He should have just trusted God at the house of bread, in Bethlehem. He should have just trusted God that he would provide in the midst of famine, but he took things into his own hands."

So in one sense we say, "Well, she's making a good choice," and rightly so, because we see human responsibility here, but we see also the sovereignty of God. Some people have a hard time with human responsibility and the sovereignty of God. We see her making a choice, but what we don't see is the sovereign hand of God orchestrating her life in such a way that he's guiding her steps.

We call this activity the providence of God, that God is actively working in our lives. If we are going to come to that point where we move from devastation, whatever it may be, and we move through that doorway of devastation so we can dream again, we must realize God is active in every aspect of our lives. He's not just active in the spectacular. I'm here to tell you that God is very active in the everyday, mundane activities of your life, of my life.

That means he's active in the good experiences of life, he's active in the bad experiences of life, and he's active in those ugly experiences of life. I think it's so important that we understand the sovereignty of God in our lives and his activity in every aspect of our lives if we're going to move forward, because when we understand the providence of God in our lives, it's then we can truly understand that God does work all things together for the good of those who love him.

How can he do that? How can God work all things together for the good? And I mean all things. How can he do it? Well, he's actively involved in every aspect of our lives. We need to understand that. Listen, child of God. You find yourself devastated? You find yourself with shattered dreams and your hopes are all gone? Know this: God is actively involved in every aspect of your life.

You feel like you're at a dead end. You feel like all your hope is gone. I'm here to tell you you may not see God at work in your life, but he's working. Naomi couldn't see God working, but God was at work in her life. Listen. I have been there, where you're going, "God, where are you? I don't see your leadership. I don't see your guidance. God, I'm not hearing from you."

You may be in that situation now, and you may think God is not there. He is there. He may be silent, but I'm here to tell you he's guiding your steps. He is active in every aspect of your life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. That's why it's so important we realize this, and that's why we can honestly say that because God is active in our lives, we may be experiencing devastation, but it's not a dead end; it's a doorway. It's a doorway for God to do great and mighty things.

We need to realize God is active in everyday life. He's involved in our lives. There's a second thing we need to understand. These are theological truths. The first truth is God is sovereign. God is in control. How do you dream again? You have to understand God's sovereignty. You have to understand he's in control. You must understand that though you make the plans in your head and in your heart, God is the one who determines your step. He does.

2. Adversity renews, tests, and grows faith. I want us to look at the three ladies we have in our story. We have Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth. What we learn from Naomi is that adversity renews faith. Naomi is a picture of a renewed faith. When I say "renewed faith…" I believe Naomi left with her husband Elimelech because she was doing what a good wife should do, following the leadership, believing he's doing right, but I believe her husband led the whole family down a pathway of destruction.

It says in verse 7, "So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah." That very word return shows she has a renewed faith. Her faith is being strengthened. Her faith is being renewed, and she's now saying, "I have to go back."

The very fact that she heard in the fields of Moab tells me, first, that she was still connected with the people at home and, second, most likely, she was still connected with the Lord. She knew that at this point in her life the best thing to do was to go back to Bethlehem. We see also a renewed faith in verses 8 and 9.

"But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!' Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept."

They wept. What Naomi does is she prays a double blessing for her two daughters-in-law. The first thing she says is, "Lord, listen. They have been faithful to the dead. They have been faithful to my family." Orpah and Ruth had been faithful. They had been loyal. So she says, "Lord…" Remember, she's using the name Yahweh. That means she recognizes she's in a covenant relationship with God.

She says, "Yahweh, would you show your kindness? Would you deal kindly with these two widows?" That word kindly is the Hebrew word checed. It's one of those Hebrew words that you really can't use one English word to translate it. When you find that word, especially as it relates to the Lord, you'll find it translated steadfast love, which means covenant love. Steadfast love means God is always faithful to his covenant and to his covenant people. You'll find it translated love, grace, favor, and kindness.

So basically what she's doing is saying, "God, listen. They have shown kindness to me. They have shown kindness to my family. They have been faithful to me. They have been faithful to my family. Therefore, Lord, Yahweh, would you be faithful to them? Would you reward them and honor them for their faithfulness?" Naomi believed that God, Yahweh, was the one true God, the only God, and she believed God can work beyond the borders of Israel. She believed God could take care of these two ladies, so she prays, "God, be faithful to them."

Then she gets very specific in verse 9. "The Lord grant that you may find rest…" In other words, "Go back to your country, go back to your home, and may God provide a new family for you. May God restore your dreams. May you find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband." We see her faith. "God, bless them, provide for them, and restore the dreams they lost when Mahlon and Chilion died."

Then it says she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. "And they said to her, 'No, we will return with you to your people.'" "We want to go with you, Naomi. We'll go to your people. We'll follow you." Now Naomi is going to pick up her argument again. She blessed them and said, "Go back. God is going to take care of you." They said, "No, we're going with you."

Naomi is not a good example of how you witness to people. She's basically saying, "No, go back to your gods. You follow your gods. Don't follow my God." That's not a good way to witness. But she has a faith, and she demonstrates that faith. She continues her argument in verse 11. "But Naomi said, 'Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me?'" "Logically, this isn't a good idea." She goes on. "Let me give you the reason."

"Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?" "Think about this. First of all, I'm not married, and I don't have any sons in my womb. I'm not going to have children in the near future. Even if I do, are you going to wait?" That's basically what she says. "Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown?"

In other words, "Listen, there's no hope for you." Actually there is, but Naomi doesn't know it. "Don't go with me. You have a greater opportunity to dream again if you'll go and stay in Moab. Go back to your mother's house. Go find you a husband. Go have children. Don't come with me." Naomi thinks, "I'm in a bad situation." I believe she's demonstrating faith, but I believe she's also very honest about how she feels.

We often think about the Christian life that everybody is happy-go-lucky. "Oh hey…" Yeah, going through a hard time and we're all smiling and rejoicing. That's not real. I want you to see how real Naomi is about her circumstances. She said in verse 13, "…would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter…"

She's describing her situation. "It's bitter to me. For your sake, don't come with me. Things aren't going too well for me. If you come with me, odds are you're not going to be any better off. It's bitter." "…for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." Do you know what she's saying? "I recognize God's activity in my life, and I recognize that he's with us in the good, the bad, and the ugly, and the situation I find myself in God has allowed me to come, and it's a bitter situation."

I believe she's honest, but she's also demonstrating her faith here, because she understands God is active, and she feels like there's really no hope for her. She just wants to make it through the day. "Then if you two come, well, here's the problem. Really, the future doesn't look good. Don't come with me." See, her faith is renewed. She's understanding that God is in control here. She's going back where her family should have stayed in the first place.

Can I give you a lesson that we can learn from Naomi in verse 13? One of the ways we can overcome becoming bitter when we find ourselves in those bad and ugly times that God allows us to go through… You're going to need a good theology, especially as it relates to the sovereignty of God. She understood, "Listen, I'm bitter. It's a hard time, but I understand God is in control and God has allowed me to go through this. He's working in my life."

I find many Christians struggle with adversity and with the things in their lives because their God is too small. Our God, Yahweh, is sovereign. So we see a picture of a renewed faith. Here's what adversity does, and you need to remember this. Adversity renews our faith. You're going through a hard time? You think you're at a dead end? Listen. God is in control and he's renewing you. He's strengthening you.

Here's another thing I want you to see that adversity does. Adversity tests our faith. Orpah gives us a picture of a rejected faith. Listen to how the ladies respond. Verse 14 says, "Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, 'See, your sister-in-law [Orpah] has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.'"

Both of them had a choice. "Do we go with Naomi, or do we stay in Moab and return to our mothers' houses, to our people, and to our many gods?" On paper, Orpah made a logical decision. Common sense says, "Go to the place that will give you more opportunities to dream again." On paper, Moab was that place. On paper, going back to her mother's house and to her people and to her many gods gave her more opportunity to have that family she so desired, to have those children she so desired.

Guess what Orpah did? She made a decision. She turned her back on the God of Israel and on the people of Israel, and she went back to her people and to her many gods. She was an apostate. She saw the grass was greener, and her decision wasn't made by faith; her decision was made by sight. Her very name… Orpah means the back of the neck.

By the way, do you know that's where Oprah got her name? Really. They misspelled it and it came out Oprah. They named her Orpah. Somebody misspelled it and it was Oprah. She's living up to her name. Oprah is living up to Orpah, the back of the neck. You turn your back on God. It means to be stubborn and stiff-necked. Oprah did that. She has turned her back on the God of the Bible.

Orpah turned her back on the God of the Bible. She's a picture of a rejected faith. See, here's what adversity does. It comes to test to see if our faith is real. It comes to test to see if it's genuine. Peter talked about this in 1 Peter 1:5-7. "Even though you're facing trials at this time of many different kinds, the testing of your faith, it comes to see if it's genuine." She didn't have one.

Adversity comes to test your faith, but we also see with Ruth that adversity comes to grow your faith, because in contrast to the rejected faith of Orpah, we have the real faith, the saving faith, of Ruth. Now Ruth spent those years with Naomi, and I can only speculate, but I believe Naomi had a faith, and she watched her and allowed her faith to influence her decision.

So she makes a decision, even though her mother-in-law is saying, "Don't go with me." I mean the pressure is on. "Don't go with me. There is no hope. I'm going to be blessed just to make it through the day. I don't have a husband. I don't have two sons. Who's going to take care of me? I'm going to be on welfare. Really, you don't want to go with me." Then you have the sister-in-law who actually says, "Hey, I'm not going."

But here's what Ruth does. She clings to Naomi. She clings. Ruth comes to the forefront of our story. This is where her life changes. It changes forever, and it changes for the good. This is where Ruth's faith finally becomes real. "You have a choice. Are you going to turn back to your many gods, or are you going to turn to the one true God, the God of Israel, and place your faith in him?"

No longer would she struggle with God, but now she's going to trust in God. Think about this. Here's real faith. You have Moab with your people, your mother's house, and the possibility of having a family again, and then of course you have, well, you have Israel and a mother-in-law saying, "Hey, it's bitter for me. There's really no hope."

Here's what faith does. We're going to see how deep her faith is. A real faith clings to God. She puts her life into God's hand, her future into God's hand. There were no guarantees. There was nothing on paper that said, "Oh, by the way, here's my plan for your life. You don't know it, but you're going to meet a guy named Boaz. He's going to redeem you, and you're going to be blessed." There was nothing like that. Ruth chose to put her life in the hands of God and to move forward with him into the unknown. Here's her faith. Verse 16:

"But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.' And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more."

She couldn't stop her. Here is how a person, especially a Gentile, was saved under the old covenant. You say, "How?" By faith. Read Hebrews, chapter 11. By faith in what? By faith in the God of Israel, by becoming a part of the people of Israel (if you were a male, that meant circumcision), and by placing your faith in the promise of God's forgiveness. That's what she did.

"I'm going with you. Your God is going to be my God. Your people are going to be my people, and I will cling to you. I will stick with you." With great determination she persevered to the very end. How are we saved under the new covenant? By faith. Faith in what? Faith in the fulfillment of God's promises: Jesus Christ, the death, burial, and resurrection.

Here's what real faith looks like. Do you want to know what saving faith looks like? It turns to God. It clings to God. It stays with God. It sticks with God. It continues with God with great determination. Another thing we need to understand is (because this is in the context of adversity, we need to have a God-centered understanding of adversity) that adversity is used by God.

The God who's in control and who's active in everyday life uses adversity to renew, to test, and to grow our faith, to see if it is real. Do you want to dream again? Know that God is in control and understand that though you're facing devastation, though you're facing adversity, God uses that in the life of his people. Here's the last thing I want you to see. This is a theological truth. It's kind of a paradox.

3. Brokenness is the unexpected pathway to blessings. Verse 19: "So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, 'Is this Naomi?' She said to them, 'Do not call me Naomi…'" Which means pleasant. "…call me Mara [bitter], for the Almighty…" El Shaddai is the name she's using here. "…has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi [pleasant], when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?"

All of the ladies are talking. "Can this be Naomi? Where is her husband? Where are her kids?" She says, "Don't call me pleasant; call me bitter. Call me broken. Why? Because when my family left here we were full. The reason we left is because we wanted to remain full. We took things in our own hands. We left here full, but God has emptied me." She says, "The Almighty…" She uses the name El Shaddai.

I'm here to tell you that very declaration of the Almighty is a demonstration of her faith. I know she's being honest. Many people think she's so bitter, but she's not. She's being very honest. All of us struggle at times, and we have bitterness we deal with when we're facing adversity. She's saying, "Listen, God has dealt with me. He's in control of my life, and he has broken me. How? Well, he has emptied me. I left here full. I come back empty."

This is how God works. We don't like it, but it's true. God uses brokenness and emptiness as the pathway to joy, as the pathway to blessings. How many of you have ever prayed, "God, break me"? That's a dangerous prayer, because he will, but it is a good prayer. God empties his people. God breaks his people. Why? So he can fill them up again with his grace and his goodness. That's what he does.

To show you that, look at verse 22: "So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest." The fact that when they show up in Bethlehem it's the start of the harvest… Do you know what that means? Naomi doesn't know what it means yet. I'll tell you what it means.

God is about to bless Naomi, God is about to bless Ruth, and he is about to bless them far beyond what they ever think or imagine. They don't even know what is ahead. All they know is devastation has become a doorway, and they're moving where they think they should move. They don't understand what we understand, that God is doing something great in their lives and the unexpected pathway to get them there was brokenness, emptiness.

3-Discovering the Will of God-Part 1

First Southern Baptist Church

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Everyday God

Discovering the Will of God – Part 1

Ruth 1:16-17; Jonah 1:14-16; Ruth 2:1-2, 7

Go ahead and take your copy of God's Word and turn to Ruth, chapter 2, as we continue our series called Everyday God. What we're doing is as we study the book of Ruth we're observing God's activity in everyday life. Let me go ahead and give you a heads-up. I don't plan on finishing this outline this morning, so you have to come back next week. Okay? And you don't have to bring it back, because… Some of you will. You can fill it out, but I'll probably expand upon this.

As I typed this sermon out last week, I realized I had enough material for at least an hour-long sermon. I know you probably think I preach an hour already. I really don't. I get close to it, and I had double that amount so I knew we would be in trouble this morning. So I don't plan on finishing this, and I want to expand upon this study. Also, just a reminder I put a little devotional for you on the back, and it ties into what we are doing here in this study this morning from Ruth, chapter 2.

The late George Truett, who was the pastor at First Dallas before Dr. Criswell became pastor… Dr. Criswell followed him and was there for 50 years. George Truett made this statement: To know the will of God is the greatest challenge. To do the will of God is the greatest achievement. As believers in Jesus Christ, those of us who are followers of Christ, our motto should be, "The will of God: nothing more, nothing less, nothing else." You've probably heard that before.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the will of God, at times we Christians can be frustrated and confused. The reason for this frustration, the reason for this confusion, is our lack of understanding concerning this term, "the will of God." For us to really, truly discover the will of God for our lives, we need to understand the different aspects of the will of God.

1. The preceptive will of God. The Bible is full of commands. It's full of precepts that we as God's people are commanded to obey, and we are to obey these commands. We are to obey these precepts. In fact, most of the will of God for your lives is already revealed in the revealed will of God, and it's revealed in the Scriptures.

That's why Paul says, when he says in 2 Timothy, all Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable. It's all you need for salvation. It's all you need to live the Christian life. You find the preceptive will of God in the Word of God, and so to do that you need to understand the Word of God. Let me give you an example.

I know because I am married it is the will of God for me to love my wife as Christ loved the church. That's the preceptive will of God. I know because I am a father and I have children, three daughters, it's my responsibility, it's God's will, that I teach my children in the ways of the Lord. I know from the Scriptures God calls me to be an imitator of Christ. He calls me to be thankful in all circumstances. He calls me to rejoice always. He calls me to pray without ceasing. That is the will of God for my life. That's the will of God for your life, and it's right there in the Bible.

It's the will of God that I walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the will of God that I live a life pleasing to God, walking in a manner worthy of him, that I bear fruit, that I grow in the knowledge of God, that I walk in the power of Holy Spirit, that I give thanks to God who has redeemed me from my sinful condition.

Those are what we consider the preceptive will of God. It's right there in the Bible, and the list goes on and on. You have the preceptive will of God, what you have spelled out for you in the Scriptures. It's not an option how I treat my wife. God says, "Here's my plan for you. You love her as Christ loved the church."

2. The providential will of God. Basically, this speaks of the circumstances we experience that are outside of our control. Much of what we are seeing with Ruth, she's experiencing the providential will of God, and we're going to see that unfold, especially as we go into the second part of this message next week about how God is guiding her steps.

There are things that happen in our lives. Some things are good. Some things are bad. Some things are ugly. They happen. They're outside of our control. God allows us to experience some things. We call that the providential will of God, and our responsibility as believers is to make sure when we find ourselves in a circumstance, no matter what it may be, that we respond in a way that's in accordance with what we just talked about, the preceptive will of God.

For instance, you find yourself in a situation that's outside of your control and somebody has wronged you, but you know, "How am I to respond to them in this circumstance? Well, I have to forgive them as Christ has forgiven me." So we have the preceptive will of God, we have the providential will of God, and here's the third part. Here's where I want to focus on today, because here's where we get really confused, where we really get frustrated, and that is what we consider…

3. God's plan for individuals. Here's where we struggle. I especially think of our young people who are college students. The questions like, "Where am I going to go to college? What job do I take? Is this job the will of God for my life? Where does God want me to serve? Where does God want me to go to church? What church should I go to?" Those are questions, but they're all ultimately a part of what we would consider God's plan for our lives.

I believe this wholeheartedly, that God has a plan for our individual lives, but here's where we really struggle. We kind of get messed up in our thinking. And I say we. I've done it. We know God has a plan for our individual lives. Right? But for some odd reason we think God is hiding it from us. We think, "Well, I have to seek the will of God. God has that plan around here somewhere. Let me find it. Where are you hiding it, God?"

We treat God like a game show host, and God is saying, "I have a plan for you. Is it behind door number one, door number two, or door number three?" as if God is hiding it from us. Do you ever feel like that? We say, "I have to find God's will in this situation. I have to seek God's will in this situation," as if God is messing with us, he's sitting back going, "Ha ha! They can't find their plan." We do that, don't we?

God doesn't do that. Nevertheless, we struggle, and here's why. Unlike the preceptive will of God and the providential will of God, which are clear in the Word of God and in our circumstances, when it comes to God's plan for our lives, where we work, where we go to school, what mate we marry, it's not clear.

Really, the reason it's not clear is really simple. God doesn't tell us his plan for our lives. He doesn't say, "Okay, now that you're a believer, let me just write it all out. Here's everything…" He does not give us insight into the future as it relates to the individual plan for our lives, and that's what we want.

How many of us want it? "Come on, God. Can't you just write it on the wall? Can't you just spell everything that's going to happen to me in my life? Why are you doing this, God? Why don't you put it in a book for me? Why don't you put it into a proposal?" Here is why. God says, "I want you to walk by faith and not by sight."

Do you know what? If God were to give us the plan, the proposal, some of us might go, "No, thank you. I don't like that plan." When I became a believer, even before I surrendered to ministry, just think when I surrendered to ministry if God said, "Okay, here's your plan. Here's everything that's going to happen to you in your life. Here's how I'm going to use you."

If I would've read that plan, there are some things that have happened to me that I would've said, "No, thank you." When I surrendered to ministry, that whole idea about being a pastor was the one thing I told God I was not going to be. "God, I'll do anything. Send me to the ends of the earth, but don't let me be a pastor. No, thank you, God." He didn't tell me I was going to be a pastor, not all at once. He wants us to walk by faith and not by sight.

Can you imagine Joseph, the story in Genesis? He gave him dreams and visions. He really didn't fully understand it, but he says, "Hey, Joseph. Here's the total plan for your life. You're going to be in the palace in Egypt."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but here's how you're going to get there."

"No, thank you."

Here's why we struggle with this whole concept of really knowing God's plan, because God does not say, "Here it all is. I'm going to lay your life out before you." He makes us walk daily with him, and he makes us walk by faith and not by sight. That's why we struggle. Not only do we struggle in this area; we become spooky. I've been spooky in my life. Let me give you a few examples. Maybe even I'll share one of my own.

I'll never forget a lady. She had some extra money. She felt like the Lord wanted her to give it to a ministry in her church, but she didn't know which ministry God was guiding her to. So here's how she discovered the will of God in this matter. She had her closed Bible just like this, and she said, "Lord, would you guide me to the ministry you want to give this money to?" She opened up her eyes, and then she opened up the Bible.

Fortunately for the children's ministry, she happened to land on the gospel where Jesus says, "Let the children alone. Don't hinder them from coming to me." That was a sure sign God wanted her to give to the children's ministry. I'm sure her pastor, after hearing that, wanted her to land on 1 Timothy, chapter 5, where it says, "Honor the elders with double honor, especially those…"

We get spooky. I know of a lady who married later in life, around 43 years old, didn't have any children, and she and her husband were at a missions conference at their church. She really felt God was calling her to the mission field, so she started praying about this. The next day at work one of her coworkers just happened to leave a vacation brochure on her desk.

It was for the Marshall Islands. She thought, "Well, maybe God wants me to go to the Marshall Islands." She goes home, and on the news there's a report coming out of the Marshall Islands. So what does she think? "God must be leading me to the Marshall Islands." Is that how God does it?

Or the young high school student who was walking with Jesus and wanted to do the will of God in his dating. So he concocted a plan. He had a long list of the girls he wanted to ask out, and his plan in discovering the will of God was if he called them and the phone was busy that meant it wasn't God's will for him to ask that girl out. If he called and she wasn't home and the phone just rang, that meant he could ask her out, but he has to wait. Of course, if he called and she answered, that meant it was the will of God for him to ask her out.

Do you see? We get spooky like that. I wish I could say that has never happened to me, but it has. I look back, and you learn from those instances. I'll never forget. It was 2006. I was pastoring in Oklahoma, and one of my mentors, Dr. David Allen, who's now the dean of theology at Southwestern, at the time was pastoring MacArthur Blvd Baptist Church. He was stepping down so he could devote his full time to his new position at Southwestern.

One of my friends came up to me, because he knew Dr. Allen, and he knew I was good friends with him. He said, "Man, you ought to put your name at that church." It's a really good church, has a great history. It's in Irving. From their parking lot you can see the Dallas Cowboy training. It's in Valley Ranch. That was a sign from God. Looking back, now that they're playing, I'm glad it didn't happen, but…

I went home and told Christy, and she says, "No, we'll pray about it." Here's what we did. We said, "Okay." What was happening was within a couple of weeks Dr. Allen was going to come and do a Bible conference for us there in Oklahoma, and she said, "Okay, if he comes and if he says something about it, then we'll do that." That was our criteria. If this happened, then we'll move forward. We'd put in our name at this church.

So we get to the last day of the Bible conference, and we go to dinner with him before it starts. He says, "Hey, I want to ask you something. Would you prayerfully consider letting me submit your name. I'm going to submit yours and somebody else's to MacArthur Blvd Baptist Church."

I thought for a moment, "Oh, this is off. God is all over this." You say, "Well, how did it turn out?" Well, I'm here, right? It got really spooky after that, because I was pretty sure God was moving and leading us there. It got really weird. We got really weird. Everything we saw with MacArthur, all of a sudden, "Man, that's a sign. It's coming."

I'll never forget. I did a graveside for somebody who lived in Irving, and they were being buried in Purcell, Oklahoma. I was doing the graveside, and they gave me something from the funeral. She was a member of MacArthur Blvd Baptist Church. "That's a sign. I'm going to be the pastor there."

We were coming home from vacation, and somewhere in Louisiana there's a MacArthur Road. We thought, "There's another sign." It's pretty spooky, right? Really spooky. We learned a good lesson. Don't go by that stuff. How do we do that? How do we move beyond just being frustrated and struggling and even becoming spooky in trying to understand God's plan for our lives?

Our study here in the book of Ruth really brings us to this second chapter as we look at Ruth and as she is faithfully walking with God. We're going to see it unfold. We're going to see how an everyday God reveals his plan to us as individuals. In fact, what Ruth does is she is a perfect example of what it means to understand and to know and to do the will of God, how to move from that doorway of devastation to dream again.

There are several principles. I'm going to call these steps. We can't get into them all. To be honest with you, I have a lot of personal spooky stories I want to share with you throughout this. Hopefully, you can learn from my spookiness of what not to do. Here's the first thing. If you want to know and discover the will of God for your life…

First, you must have a proper view of God. Go back to verses 16 and 17 of chapter 1, because there we have Ruth's profession of faith. Here's what she says. "But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.'"

The name she uses there is Elohim. "Your Elohim will be my Elohim," but notice what she does in verse 17. "Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried." Then she doesn't say Elohim here. "May the Lord [Yahweh] do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you." I imagine some Hebrew scholar is going to say, "Preacher, you're making too much out of this."

I think there's something very, very significant in the fact that you have a young Moabite girl who is not just saying, "Yes, Elohim, God," but she is declaring Yahweh, which was the name for the covenant-keeping God. What I have found is now you have a Gentile who's making a declaration she has placed her faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel.

As I studied this, I found something very significant. I want you to turn over to Jonah, chapter 1. As I studied the use of a Gentile using the name Yahweh, I believe whenever you see the name Yahweh and it's used in context of people, they are people who have a relationship with God. In Jonah, chapter 1, of course, you have Jonah running from God because God told him to go to Nineveh. "Go to Nineveh and pronounce judgment," but he runs from God because Jonah…

Really, Jonah is not just about a disobedient prophet, but it's about the people of Israel failing to do their mission. They were to be a light to the Gentile nations. He didn't want to go to Nineveh. He didn't like the people of Nineveh, and he knew God was gracious and compassionate and if they repented God would relent in the judgment.

So what does he do? He gets on a boat going to Tarshish. He's on a boat with a bunch of Gentile sailors, and he's underneath, down below. The storm comes, and these pagans are frightened for their lives. They're wondering, "What's going on here?" Of course, Jonah says, "Well, I'm a Hebrew, and my God is Yahweh, the Lord."

So they elect, "We're going to throw him off," but I want you to hear what these pagans… Remember these are Gentiles. Here's what they actually pray to God in chapter 1, verse 14. Who's calling out here? It's not Jonah, not the Hebrew here. It is the Gentiles, the pagans. It says, "Therefore they [the sailors] called out to the Lord, 'O Lord [Yahweh]…'" They're not using Elohim here or Adonai. They're using Yahweh.

"'O [Yahweh], let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O [Yahweh], have done as it pleased you.' So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging," and I want you to hear what these men do. See what they do.

"Then the men feared the Lord [Yahweh] exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord [Yahweh] and made vows." Don't be surprised if when we get to heaven you see the sailors who were on the boat with Jonah, because the language they're using is covenant language. Can you believe that? God in Jonah's disobedience leads pagans to faith in Christ.

Do you see? We go back to Ruth. That's why I say this is a profession of faith here in chapter 1. What Ruth is doing is she's saying, "Yahweh is my God. He is the covenant-keeping God," and so she places her faith in God, the God of Israel. I want you to think about the decision she made, because by placing her faith in the God of Israel…

If you remember from last week, Orpah, her sister-in-law, went where the grass was greener. She turned her back on God. She says, "I'll go back to my people. I'm going to go back to my gods," but not Ruth. Here's what Ruth did, and I want you to see what a sacrifice she made, because earthly speaking, humanly speaking, on paper she left her security.

As a widow she left her home. She left Moab. She left her people. She left her many gods, and all she did is say, "Listen. I'm leaving all that security alone. I'm leaving that earthly security, I'm placing my faith in Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, and I'm going to enjoy his eternal security."

How could she make a decision like that? I'll tell you. She had a proper view of God, that the God of Israel is a faithful God. He keeps his covenant. He's always faithful to his people. Therefore, she was willing to give up earthly security for eternal security. She was a true disciple. She denied herself, and she followed the God of Israel. She followed Yahweh.

You will never discover God's will for your life if you haven't come to a place as a believer to where you're trusting God without any reservation. The only way you can do that is to have a proper view of God. You can't say, "Well, listen, God. I'm going to trust you up to this point, but after this point I'm taking things into my own hands."

No. The Bible says, "Do you want to know the will of God? Do you want him to make your paths straight? Do you want to see him guide you in your life? Here's what you have to do. Trust him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." That's what Ruth did. She trusted him.

When you have a proper view of God, you realize God will never ever drop the ball on you, he who did not spare his own Son. Look what he did to save you. He is a faithful God. He is for you. He's not against you. He's always with you, and he will always provide what you need when you need it if you continue to trust in him. Here's what James, chapter 1, verse 5, says.

"If any one of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without partiality, and he will give it. But let him ask in faith with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave on the sea, tossed about by the wind. For that person should not expect he will receive anything from the Lord because that person is a double-minded man. That person is unstable in all he does." You say, "Well, I'm trying to understand the will of God for my life." It begins with a proper view of God that causes you and leads you to trust him without any reservation.

Secondly, you have to be faithful in the things you can control. As we come to chapter 2, here's what's going to happen in our story. Naomi is actually moving back to the background. Ruth comes to the forefront. She becomes one of the main characters, and in verse 1 we are introduced to another main character, a very important character.

It says in verse 1, chapter 2, "Now Naomi had a relative of her husband's, a worthy man of the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz." We're going to learn more about him in subsequent stories, but let me just say this for this study. What is Boaz? He is an agent of God's grace. I want you to think about this, because I'll expand upon it next week.

Think about all the people God has put into your life, and do you know what you need to see them as? Agents of God's grace. That's what Boaz is. Do you know what? Ruth doesn't know this yet, because she hasn't met Boaz, but Boaz is a part of God's plan for her life. She doesn't know it. Why? Because she does not see into the future, and nor do you.

Here's the one thing she does know. She knows, "I have to be faithful in the things I can control."
She knows, "It's a new day. I have to get up. I have to work. I have to provide. I have to go and provide not only food for myself, but I have to provide for my mother-in-law." So we see that happening.

Look at verse 2. It says, "And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.' And she said to her, 'Go, my daughter.'" The author wants us to make sure we realize and remember. Don't forget this for one moment. This Ruth is a Moabite. Sure, she's a foreigner but not just any foreigner. She is a Moabite, which means Ruth probably didn't expect to be accepted by the people of Bethlehem. Why? She's a Moabite.

Do you know what? She didn't let that stop her. She got up, and she asked for permission. She says, "Let me go out and glean from the fields. Let me go glean." What she's talking about here is in the Mosaic law God set up a welfare system. In that welfare system he commanded the landowners, "When you harvest, you leave the corners of the land for the people, the orphans, the widows, the foreigners. You leave it for them so they can have food, so we can take care of them." So they would go out and glean.

Do you want to know the difference between an American welfare system and God's welfare system? In God's you actually have to work. They had to go out and work for it. Do you want to eat? You can't sit around. You can't go stand in line at a government… You have to go and work and glean. That's what she did.

What we learn from verse 2 are two things she can control, two things you can control. You can't control the future. You can, but you can't. What you can control which will influence your future will be two things: character and conduct. Those are the two things we see with Ruth. Look at verse 2 again. In my translation it says, "Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain…" but in the Hebrew it's actually a polite request.

Some of your translations say, "Please let me go." Do you know what that reveals? It reveals a woman who was polite. She was respectful. The very fact that she was respectful to her elders, to her mother-in-law… She was taking care of her mother-in-law. She didn't want her mother-in-law to have to go out and work. Listen. You know she's a godly woman if she's doing that for her mother-in-law. Amen? She is taking care of her mother-in-law. We see a politeness. We see it in her character.

We also see the fact when she says, "Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor," Ruth understood she was dependent upon the favor of the landowner. She says, "Let me go, and maybe possibly a landowner will have mercy, a landowner will have grace upon me." She did not feel entitled one bit. She didn't say, "Hey, I deserve this." No, she said, "If I could just find favor…" That's a woman who has character. She's humble. She's lowly. She's polite, respectful to her elders.

Not only that, she was a hard worker. Listen to what they were saying about her. Go to verse 7, because Boaz shows up and he asks about her. In verse 7 this is what the servants were saying about this Ruth. "She said, 'Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.' So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, except for a short rest." She was a hard worker.

Ruth didn't know her future. She couldn't, but she knew what she needed to do now. Do you want to know what God's plan for you…? Do you want to discover his will? Do you want to know what college to go to? He may not tell you today, but listen to this. What are you doing now? Be faithful.

You could reword this. Be faithful in what you can control. Or put it this way. Be faithful in the small things. God is not going to tell you your plan. He's going to unfold it as you walk with him daily. So you need to do what you need to do now. You say, "Well, what do I need to do now?" If you are a believer, you need to know the preceptive will of God, and I can guarantee you God wants you to walk with him humbly every day.

He wants you to have a consistent walk with him. He wants you to spend time in the Word of God every day. He wants you to pray. He wants you to worship. He wants you to be a part of a local church. He wants you to make disciples right now. He wants you to use your spiritual gift. He has given you spiritual gifts. He has given you the Holy Spirit. That's what he wants you to do now. He wants you to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. He wants you to bear fruit. He wants you to grow in the knowledge of God. He wants you to pursue holiness.

Yeah, I know that doesn't help you in terms of, "Where I work or what church I serve in or where I should go, pastor," but what it does do is it begins to open up doors for you. Listen. God is going to look at you and say, "What are you doing now? What are you doing in the present?" I have young people coming to me, "Pastor, it's about time. What does he want me to do?" I always say, "What are you doing now?"

Back in 1998, finishing up my undergraduate, going to go into my master's, I thought, "Well, I'm ready to pastor a church. Okay. Here's what I'm going to do. It's the first of the last semester of my undergraduate. I'm going to start sending out my résumés to churches around the Dallas-Fort Worth area so I can still go to school and finish up my master's."

I started doing that, and do you know what I thought? "In a matter of weeks, I'm going to be a pastor," and I waited and I waited. While I waited, do you know what I did? Nothing. I did my school work and stuff like that, but I wasn't really serving the Lord. I waited and did nothing. Then I had some opportunities that came, but, "No, I can't do that. I'm going to be a pastor." I turned them down.

Then one of my pastor friends came up to me and said, "Hey, I have an opportunity here. It's at a local hospital in Dallas, and what they need is for somebody on Sunday mornings to go and…" This is no joke. "…teach the Bible study in the psychiatric ward." Do you know what I told him? "Hey, no, I can't do it. God has called me to be a pastor."

"Well, what are you doing now?"

"Nothing."

"Don't you think you ought to be faithful in what you can control? Don't you think you ought to be faithful in the small things?"

Yes, God used that to convict me, and so what did I do? I went to teach a Bible study at the psychiatric ward. In hindsight, that's all about God. You go to teach a Bible study in a psychiatric ward, and don't tell me that won't prepare you to be a pastor, because this is what we are. We're a hospital.

Do you know what I started doing? I started preparing sermons, and sometimes I'd have four around a table. Sometimes I would only have one, but that's what God told me to do. You have to be faithful with what you can do now. Here I am dreaming of what he's going to do in the future, and I wasn't doing anything in the present.

Do you want to learn something from Ruth? Listen. Ruth didn't have a clue. She doesn't have a clue, and we do. We see her story unfolding. Really, it all comes down to this, and it gets better next week. You have to be here for next week. It's really this simple. Are you walking with God right now? Are you consistently walking with him? Are you seeking him in prayer and Bible study? Are you being faithful in what you need to do right now in the present?

God is not going to say, "Here's my whole plan for your life." He's just not going to do it, so I want to encourage you today as you try to understand this will-of-God thing for your life. Don't become spooky. I want to ask you this: Are you faithful in the small things? Are you walking consistently with the Lord? Are you allowing Christ to work in you and through you and around you? God will give you opportunities only as you are being faithful in the small things.

Be faithful. What are you doing? I know for some here today the first step of discovering the will of God begins with a personal relationship with Jesus. That was the first step of discovering God's plan for my life. That's his plan for everyone. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that those who believe in him shall not perish."

It's God's desire if you're here today and you don't know Christ that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It all starts right there, but it doesn't stop. For some of you, you need to start, and you need to trust Christ Jesus. You need to trust in his death, burial, and resurrection and trust him as your Lord and Savior. He will come and live in your life. I'm here to tell you he'll give you life and give it to you more abundantly.

God has a plan for you, and ultimately, that plan is to save you from your sins. He has a plan for your individual life. He does. He's not going to tell it to you all at once, but what you need to do is be faithful. For some that means you need to be a part of a local church. Listen. You have to be a part of a local church. The Bible says that. To be involved and using your gifts and serving the Lord is part of being faithful.

That doesn't stop. I've found nothing in the Bible that says, "Oh, when you get to this age, you don't do anything." I realize some people can only pray, but you continue to pray, because I have a lot of people say, "I can't do this. I can't do that." I understand that, but here's what they say. "I can pray." Do you know what? If you can pray, you can be involved in the most important ministry of the church. Be faithful in what you can do now. Let's pray.

If you're here this morning, and you do not know Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it's God's plan that you trust him. It's God's plan that you know him in a personal relationship. In a moment after this prayer we're going to have a time of invitation. Will you trust Jesus Christ today? For some of you that means you become a part of this fellowship, you become a part of our church through membership.

Father, we just pray that you have your way this morning. We thank you for your Word. We thank you that you have a plan for us. God, help us to be faithful in the things we can control. In Jesus' name, amen.