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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. What a joy and a privilege for us to worship the Lord and to study the word of God together. This morning, we're gonna start a brand0:12 new sermon series on the book of Ruth. I'm titling the series Pursued by Grace. You know, we wanna experience God and his fullness in0:24 our life through faith. So that's what this series is all about. So today being the first sermon on this, I'm gonna visit Ruth chapter 1 verses 1 to 7 with0:36 you. Ruth chapter 1 and verse 1 to 7. I'm titling today's sermon, trusting God in your famine. Trusting God in your famine. Let's look0:47 to the0:48 Lord in prayer. Thank you, Jesus. I don't need to understand. I just need to0:59 hold his hands. I don't ever need to ask the reason why.1:13 For I know he'll make a way through the night and through the day. I don't1:24 need to understand. I just need to hold his hands.1:35 Oh, father, we thank you so much for your goodness and your grace. That, Lord, even in the midst of darkness, your light shines brighter. In the days of1:46 famine, Lord, we can trust in your favor. This morning, as we come before your throne room of grace to receive mercy and grace in time of our need, I pray that you open our eyes and1:58 give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to obey your word and to give us that faith that we will trust in you and make the right decisions in the midst of difficult circumstance.2:10 We thank you, Lord. We give you glory. We give you praise. We give you honor. In Jesus' name. And the people of God said, amen and amen. Today, we are starting a brand2:22 new sermon series on the book of Ruth. I'm titling this series Pursued by Grace. And today, being the first sermon, this is part 1, we're gonna2:34 cover the first 7 verses in the book of Ruth. So Ruth chapter 1, verses 1 to 7. I'm titling today's sermon, Trusting God in your famine. Trusting2:45 God in Your Famine. Let's read the first 7 verses. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land.2:57 I want you to pay attention to the geographical background as well as the historical context here. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a3:09 famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, and he and his wife and3:21 his 2 sons. The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his 2 sons were Malon3:32 and Kileon. They were Ephrathtites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But3:44 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her 2 sons. These 2 sons took Moabite wives. The name of the 1 was3:56 Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about 10 years. And both Malon and Killion died so that the woman was left without her 2 sons4:08 and her husband. Then she arose with her daughter-in-law, daughters in law, to return from the land from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of4:20 Moab that the Lord had visited His people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her 2 daughters in law, and they went on the4:32 way to return to the land of Judah. What a brilliant narrative that we have before us. I want you to understand this. Every4:44 biblical narrative has a theological purpose. In other words, every story in the Bible, whether it speaks about an individual or about a family or4:56 about a community, God is the hero in that story. But the Holy Spirit highlights a few key things for us. So this book of Ruth is a very5:07 interesting book. In fact, it is a classic literature. You know, Benjamin Franklin, when he was the ambassador to France, he actually was part of a club5:19 called the Infidel's Club, where they gathered together and they would read classic literature. So 1 day, when it was his turn, he took the book of Ruth, changed all5:31 the names, and then he presented to his book club. Now the people were amazed and they were astonished in the in the romance and the story that thrilled5:43 the ups and downs of that beautiful narrative. And they asked him, where did you find this? And he said, it's in the Bible. Now this is a beautiful story where you see5:54 God's working, a sovereign work of God in the lives of his people, and you see his redemptive work in the lives of his people. So I want you to think about this book, and we're gonna meditate6:06 it over a few weeks. So Ruth chapter 1 and verse 1 gives us the historical context. It says, even though it is a beautiful book, it6:18 begins with a narrative tension. The tension is there was famine in the land. The Bible says in Ruth chapter 1 and verse 1, in the days when the6:30 judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. Now, whenever you think about famine in the Old Testament, you have to pause and ask this question. Why is6:42 there a famine in the first place? Why is this so important? Because the Bible actually speaks about famine in the Old Testament as kind of God dealing6:54 with his people. So I want you to see this famine as a threefold famine. Number 1, the first famine was a material famine. In verse 1, it says there was7:06 a famine in the land. And then in verse 6, it gives us a clue that they went away because there was a lack of food. In other words, during the time of famine, there's7:17 always a shortage of food. And so that there is a material famine. The second reason, the second fold of famine7:29 is a moral famine. The Bible highlights here in the days of judges. In other words, this happened during the time of judges. The7:41 Bible actually records for us what it was like during the time of Judges. If you go over to Judges chapter 21 and verse 25, it says, in those days, there was no7:52 king in Israel. Pay attention to that language. There was no human king in Israel, but God has always been the king of Israel. But the8:04 people did not acknowledge God as king, and they did not have a human king like any other nation. And therefore, in those days, there was no king in Israel,8:16 everyone did what was right in his own eyes. In other words, people went about doing things what they felt right or good or to be true for8:27 themselves. You may say that, isn't it the world today? Yes, nothing has changed. Human hearts, the deprivation in human hearts have not changed.8:39 The depravity of our soul, we have not changed. The poverty in our soul, we have not changed. In other words, there was lawlessness. Not only there was lawlessness, there was idolatry, there was8:51 false religion, There were theft. There were drunkenness. There were homosexuality. There was sexual perversion. There was violence, and there were national division and civil war9:03 and extreme unbelief in the hearts of people. Now that was the attitude then. It is similar to the attitude today. So what I would ask you to consider is9:15 there was not only a material famine, there was a moral famine. In the same circumstance, the threefold famine helps us to understand there was also a missionary9:26 famine. In other words, in the Old Testament, God always uses famine as a tool of discipline to bring his people back to9:38 himself. See, famine is a sign that they are not walking with God. The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 16 and 17, take care,9:49 lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the10:01 heavens so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit and you will perish quickly of the good land that the Lord is giving you. In other words, famine is a result10:14 of their walk with God. When they walk with him, the land produces. They will eat the best of the land. They will eat the good of the land. But when their heart is far removed from God10:26 and they start to worship idols or serve other gods, the Bible says the land will pay a price. So God was using this land or this10:38 famine as a missionary to call his people back to himself. In second Chronicles chapter 7 and verse 13 and verse 14, the Bible says, when I shut up the heavens so that there is10:50 no rain or command the locusts to devour the land or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves and11:01 pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. I want you to listen to me11:13 carefully. What is an Old Testament principle is still true today. The principle is this, when there is no righteousness in their lives, there will be11:25 famine in their land. Listen to it carefully. When there is no righteousness in their lives, in the lives of God's people, there will be a famine in their land.11:37 So 1 of the things that I want you to think about with me this morning is this. At IDMC, we are always concerned about putting God into the equation of our lives. In in11:49 several of my teachings, you would hear that I give you not only the foundational doctrines or theological foundations, but I also give you theological12:00 frameworks to think about things in life. And 1 of the frameworks we often quote in IDMC is the SPO framework. In other words, when you are going through a famine in some12:12 areas of your life, the first thing you gotta do is to deal with SPO. And this is the order in which you deal with your famine. This is the order in which you deal with your crisis.12:24 SPO. What does SPO stand for? You know, many times when people are in crisis, they usually call the senior pastor's office. Is that what SPO stands for? No. SPO stands for spiritual,12:36 personal, and organizational. Now when you are in a famine, the first thing you think about is, how do I deal with this organizationally? What do I need to change? Where do I need to go?12:48 How do I solve this problem? Usually, human beings start thinking about organizational change. But can I humbly say this? We need to reorientate ourselves and to13:00 start from the spiritual viewpoint. In other words, spiritual first, then personal, then organizational. That's the framework. So what does spiritual stand for? Spiritual means you ask13:12 yourself this question, what is the Lord doing in my life? It's a fundamental question. What is God dealing with me? What is God doing in my life? The second 113:24 is personal. Personal is, how did I contribute to this? You know, you created a mess. You gotta reflect upon how did I contribute to this mess? What was my13:35 part? What was my role? It takes 2 to tango. You cannot always blame your partner in the business, or you cannot always blame your spouse in your marriage. You cannot blame the in laws all the time. You cannot13:47 blame some external factors. You have to take ownership of how you contributed. What is the Lord asking me to do? That's a question to consider when it comes to13:59 personal. Then the third 1, the organizational happens. In other words, what needs to change? In other words, what are the next steps I should consider? What are the options I have? And what's the good14:10 way forward? We need to consider the organizational change. In other words, I want you to think about this, s p o, spiritual personal organizational. Now the reason why I highlight14:22 this, because in this narrative passage, in verse 1, the Bible says, in the days when the judges ruled, that means there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own14:34 eyes, there was a famine in the land. Famine could be a reason why God was dealing with his people, or God is trying to bring about his missionary purpose in the lives of his people, to bring them back to intimacy with14:46 him. But the Bible then highlights about 1 family. The Bible highlights about 1 man and his 2 sons and his 1 wife. Now let's focus14:57 on them. The Bible says, 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 of15:08 Moab, and he and his wife and his 2 sons. See, in the in the Hebrew culture, names are particularly given importance15:20 because the name not only defines the character of a person, the name also defines their destiny in some sense. So the parents actually take time to see and15:32 sense what the child's character is gonna be and then and then they actually name the person. So here, the Bible pays so much attention to geographical15:44 names, at the same time, personal names. And because there is a meaning behind each of these names. So in order to really understand what is going on, we need to study the15:55 names. So let me give you some of the names here. Number 1, it says the name Bethlehem. He's from a place called Bethlehem. What does Bethlehem means? House of bread. So16:07 in some sense, there is an irony presented here. There is a contrast here. The house of bread has no bread. In other words, there is a famine in Bethlehem.16:20 Secondly, Elimelech. What does Elimelech mean? Elimelech means my God is king. In other words, even though there is no king in Israel, my God is king. Even though that is his16:32 name, maybe he's a godly man, but in this circumstance, when he finds himself in a famine, he deals with it in an ungodly manner. That's what we're gonna study. Thirdly,16:43 Naomi. Naomi is my delight. In other words, she is someone who who is a delight, not only to her parents, but I believe to her family that they called her my16:55 delight. Malon, this is the first son's name, Malon. I pray that you never name any of your children these 2 names. Malon means sickly, and17:06 Kileon means to waste away. I pray that you never name your children these 2 names. But the names actually give us an indication. Maybe Elimelech was17:19 making a major decision of relocating from Bethlehem to Moab, maybe for 1 reason, because he knows that the famine17:31 is severe and maybe the children, the sons, the 2 boys that he has, maybe they cannot handle the famine. You know, the names gives us a clue that maybe17:42 Elimelech wanted to relocate from Bethlehem to Moab for a temporary period in order to survive, in order to help his children survive the famine17:54 because they were both sickly and wasting away. I want you to think about this. In verse 1, he says, they went to sojourn in the country of Moab. The18:05 writer is very particular that it was a temporary relocation just to survive the famine. Then in verse 2, he says, they went into the country of Moab and remained there. In other words, they stayed. They kept on18:17 extending their visa in Moab. And then in verse 3, they lived there about 10 years. In other words, they continued to be there for a whole decade. Here's a18:29 principle I want you to capture. The New Testament says in Mark chapter 8 and verse 35, for whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my gospel's sake18:41 will save it. In other words, here he is trying to preserve his 2 sons, but the Bible actually sadly states that not only Elimelech died, even his 2 sons18:53 died within that 2 within that decade. I want you to consider what happened in this family. You know, from this narrative passage, we can see there are 2 things that19:05 Elimelech did. Number 1, he chose to leave the promised land. Number 2, he chose to live in a polluted land. I want you to think about this with me.19:16 He chose to leave the promised land. In acts chapter 17 and verse 26, the Bible says that he made from 1 man every nation of19:28 mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined the allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. The Bible actually specifically states that19:40 God had sovereignly earmarked where his people should live. In fact, for each of the tribe in Israel, God had given them a specific boundary that they need to19:51 inherit. And that was a promised land. But the Bible says, Elimelech chose to relocate out of that promised land. Secondly, he chose to live in a polluted land.20:04 In other words, he left Bethlehem and he lived in the country of Moab. Now, where is Moab? More importantly, why Moab is20:15 significant for us to meditate. Look at this. Moab actually means of his father. In Genesis chapter 19 and verse 36 and verse20:26 37, you read the story of what happened to Lot and his 2 daughters. The Bible says they were in a cave and they lived there alone, and the Bible says that the20:38 girls came up with a brilliant plan. It was a perverted plan, and that plan was to procreate using their father's seed. So they slept with their fathers, there20:50 was an incestuous relationship. Out of that, there were 2 nations that were birthed. The first 1, the Bible says, gave birth to a man by the name of Moab, and he's the father21:02 of the Moabites to this day. In other words, this Moab was born out of an incestuous relationship, and not only that, God had said specifically to21:14 Israelites not to relate to Moab. Now, later on in the book of Deuteronomy, you will read that God was very specific, that because of the way the Moabites treated21:26 Israelites during their journey in the wilderness, that none of the Israelites will ever associate with any of the Moabites. They will never leave a promised land to go and live21:37 in Moab. I want you to think about the spiritual significance of this. Moab represents the activity of the flesh. In other words, making21:49 decisions based on earthly mindset without considering kingdom values. You know, there are many times in our lives we make Moabic decisions. We are22:01 thinking just like the world, and we sometimes forget that we belong to the eternal kingdom. Our value system is very secular, very earthly, very natural, very22:12 human rather than spiritual. Secondly, doing things our own way instead of doing God's way. In other words, when we make that decision of22:24 Moab, Moab represents, I wanna get things done my way. I want now. I can't wait for God to move and do things. I want those doors open today. So we take22:36 matters into our own hands. Thirdly, depending on carnal reasoning rather than spiritual discernment. In other words, we may write our own bucket list, we may write our own22:47 plans and purposes and vision statement and vision board for our life, and we have all these logical thinking and carnal reasoning rather than depending on spiritual22:59 discernment. In other words, living in the flesh rather than being led by the spirit. That's what Moab represents for us today. Now, I want you to think about this.23:11 What Elimelech tried to do is to just relocate his family temporarily to Moab, but then extended his stay there and continued for 10 years. Did they23:23 survive the famine? That's what they tried to escape, but the Bible says sadly, the Elimelech, the husband of Naomi died and she was left with her 2 sons. And then in next23:35 verse, it says in verse 5, both Malon and Kileon died so that the woman was left without her 2 sons and her husband. So I want you to take this23:47 principle down. Decisions determine destiny. Decisions determine destiny. So may consider how you deal with23:58 famine, Because how you deal with famine matters. You know, the Bible actually gives us a clue. In the life of Abraham, in Genesis chapter 12, he had24:10 obeyed God by following God into the land that God had showed him. But by the time he arrived in that land, the Bible says there was a severe famine in the land. And so24:22 what did Abraham do? Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land. Listen to me carefully. Abraham went down.24:34 When you go with God, you go up, but when you go away from God, you go down. The Bible says he went down to Egypt, and he wanted to sojourn, the same word. In other words, it was a24:46 temporary relocation. Why? The famine was severe. Here's a man who we take, who we consider him as the father of faith. In other words, here's a man who believed God, but24:58 yet the Bible says when it came to a famine, he wanted to preserve his life and the life of his family, so he made a Moabic decision. What was the decision? To25:09 relocate to Egypt. Now, did it go well for him? That 1 act of going down to Egypt took him on a spiral downwards. In other words,25:21 he lied about his wife. Hagar came into his life, Ishmael was born. I want you to think about this. There was so much more trouble 1 after the other, a baggage that will25:33 affect him for the rest of his life. Listen carefully. Why this is important? How you deal with famine matters. The Bible also records for us how25:45 King David dealt with famine. The Bible says in second Samuel chapter 21 and verse 1, now there was a famine in the days of David for 3 years, year after year.25:57 In other words, year after year, the famine continued and it was causing severe chaos in the kingdom. Now, what did David do? David sought the face of the Lord. And the26:09 Lord said, there is a blood guilt on Saul and on his house because he put the Gibeonites to death. In other words, he went before God, he sought the face of God, and God gave him the reason why26:21 there was a famine. I want you to listen to me carefully. As a believer, you and I may experience famine in some areas of our lives. Maybe you're experiencing currently a26:33 famine in your finances, or maybe it is in your emotional realm, or maybe it is physically somewhere in your health, or it is a challenge in your spiritual walk. Wherever26:45 you are experiencing a famine, the question is not whether it you you gotta, how do I get rid of this famine? The question is, why is there a famine in the first place?26:57 That's the question you and I need to ask. So can I give you a principle? The principle is learn to ask the right questions. Learn to ask the right questions. The journey towards27:09 spiritual maturity is about learning to ask the right questions. They were asking, how do I get out of this famine? What they should be asking, why is27:21 there a famine in the first place? So as I bring this message to a close, I wanna give you 3 applicational principles because we are we are all prone to making Moabic27:32 decisions. Yes, we will make Moabic decisions from time to time. What do I why do I call it a Moabic decision? Because it is a decision made by carnal reasoning rather than spiritual discernment.27:45 It is a Moabic decision because we we try to make things happen in our own effort rather than trusting in the timing of God. So we need to pay attention to this. So how do27:57 we avoid making Moabic decisions? I wanna give you 3 things to consider in this sermon. Number 1, we need to walk by faith rather than by sight. Number 2, we need28:09 to seek after spiritual rather than physical. Thirdly, we need to think long term benefits rather than short term gains. Let's look at it 1 by 1. Walk by28:21 faith rather than by sight. Second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7, the Bible says, for we walk by faith and not by sight.28:33 Every man of God who has walked by sight has failed. In other words, when you're gripped by circumstances and the circumstances become28:45 overwhelming or the facts of the matter try and overwhelm you, when you're moved by the factual, when you're moved by what you see, taste,28:56 touch, feel, and hear, something happens. You are troubled in your soul, you're troubled in your spirit, and therefore you try to do things from a29:08 carnal effort. I want you to listen to me carefully. It takes years of training. Training in righteousness, training in following the voice of God, training in29:19 following the word of God, training in in wanting to please the Lord and be led by the spirit. That training matters. That's why at IDMC, we take time to talk about how do29:31 we train ourselves. We don't try to be disciples, we train to be disciples. So we cannot just try to walk by faith, we need to train ourselves to walk by faith.29:43 See, Abraham, the man of faith, failed the first time. He saw a severe famine, he relocated to Egypt, and there was a spiral downwards. But the same Bible writes about him29:55 in Romans chapter 4 that there was a spiral upwards. In other words, there was a season in his life he had trained and he had gone through that process. Now the Bible says, in hope, he30:07 believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations as he had been told, so shall your offspring be. And the Bible says, he did not weaken in faith when he considered his own30:18 body, which was good as dead since he was about hundred years old, nor when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. But the Bible says, no unbelief made him waver30:30 concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. Fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That means there was a season in30:42 his life where he was wavering, where there was unbelief, where there was doubt, and he wasn't convinced. But there's a season in his life where he had been fully convinced that what30:54 God promised, he's able to do it. That means he didn't allow any unbelief to make him waver in the promises of God. That's the first thing. We gotta train ourselves to walk by31:05 faith, not by sight. Number 2, how do we avoid making a Moabic decision? Seek after the spiritual rather than physical. In other words, the31:17 Bible says in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. What are all these things? These31:29 are the things that the Gentiles seek after. Position, privilege, promotion, all these things that the Gentiles seek after. But can I humbly say this? Your31:41 orientation and my orientation should be to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now, this statement to seek first is not a statement of priorities. In other words, that31:53 God has to be number 1. Priorities has to be in this order. Number 1, God. Number 2, his ways, his will, and then my family, and then my career, and then my ministry, all of that. No, no, no.32:05 It's not a statement of priorities. It's a statement of preoccupation. In other words, what drives you? What is the 1 thing that defines you? So this whole passage of32:16 Matthew chapter 6 from verse 19 to verse 34, he deals with 1 thing, allegiance of our heart. You cannot have too many allegiance in your heart. There's only 1 thing that would32:28 define your life and what is that? You know, too many things will not only distract us. Too many things will start to compete for our allegiance, and it will divide32:40 our attention. You know, you want to please God, at the same time, you want to make money. You want to please God and you want to be popular. You want to please God and you want to have this and have that. In other32:51 words, all these competing agendas ultimately will distract us and cause us to make a Moabic decision. The third thing we want to consider is how do33:03 we avoid Moabic decisions? First, walk by faith rather than by sight. Secondly, seek after spiritual rather than physical. Thirdly, think long term benefits33:15 rather than short term gains. In other words, you have to know what you're giving up. Short term in that relocation, they can have food on the table,33:27 but they did not trust God and wait God in that place to see God's miraculous provision. See, was another example in the book of Ruth. Boaz, the relative of33:40 Elimelech, He stayed in Bethlehem, and God had prospered him. We will read about it in the coming weeks. But can I humbly say this? But Elimelech took matters in his own hands, so even33:52 in temporary relocation, he could have a short term benefit, but it did not produce a long term gain. The Bible actually says that you and I need to take consider34:04 a long term view of life and ministry. You know, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 24 to 26, by faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the34:16 son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater34:27 wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. Can you see the picture here? It says, he considered the reproach of Christ a greater wealth34:39 rather than the treasures of Egypt. What was Moses' decision making philosophy? It was, I exchange short term gain for long term34:50 benefit. I want you to listen to me carefully. For an eternal reward, he gave up the temporal treasures for an eternal reward. That's the mindset of a believer. Now think35:02 about this. The reason why I'm talking about this is you could be in a season of making a Moabic decision, or maybe you're living through a famine and you're about to make a Moabic decision, or you have35:14 already made a Moabic decision and you're wondering, how do I get out of this? Can I humbly say this? Our God is a redeemer. If you're a person who's about to make a Moabic35:25 decision, don't do it. Think about this principle. We cannot solve spiritual problem by making carnal decisions. Think about that principle that decisions determine35:37 destiny. If you're a young person and you're saying, I've been a single for too long, I I I I there are no Christian single people that I'm attracted to.35:50 Stay in the posture. Stay in that place where you are trusting in God to provide. Don't take matters in your own hand and unequally yoke yourself with a pre believer. Why? It36:01 only creates long term problems. For a businessman, it could be someone who finds a short term gain, a financial gain, a quick rich scheme.36:13 He jumps into it, he cuts corners, does all this, but in the long run, it catches up with him. Maybe it's a student who who chooses a short term delight of36:25 playing games, just whiling away time, wasting it on TV or Netflix or TikTok or wherever, but fails to study and prioritize getting36:37 good grades. Because if you think long term, those are the things that will help you. So whatever season you're going through, whether you are in a single season or whether you are in a marriage that is going36:49 through a difficult season and you're finding a famine in the area of your relationships, can I humbly ask you to do this? Don't be driven by carnality. Don't be driven by37:01 human thinking, earthly mindset. Come take time to go before God and to process this with the SPO principle. Spiritual, personal, and then37:12 organization. The Bible says here towards the end in verse 6, then arose with her daughter in laws to return from the country of Moab for she had heard in the37:24 fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. I want you to pay attention to this. A time will come when God's sovereign time37:36 in God's sovereign time, God will turn things around. The RSV actually states it like this. God, in his sovereign timing, visited his people and37:48 gave them food. In other words, they are in the wilderness. God can open the windows of heaven and give them manna. There is no meat, but God can send38:00 a wave of a wind to bring about all the meat that they need. In other words, God is able to provide for you in every season. God is38:12 able to do that miraculous. So in the midst of your famine, trust God and his favor. Just trust him in his favor and say, Lord, in your sovereign timing,38:24 you would change this for me. You know that verse 6, the writer in the book of Ruth did not mention that it started to38:35 rain or it started to change the weather, the weather is now better, or it didn't say that the ground is now producing fruit. It actually38:47 says the Lord visited his people and had given them food. I want you to pay attention to that. In the midst of famine, things may not change in that company, in that business,38:59 or in that relationship, but you stay faithful. Don't make a Moabic decision, but trust in the sovereignty of God and his timing and the faithfulness of God. In his time, he will step in, he will visitShow more
Paul Jeyachandran
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