Skip to content 2. The Road She Walked Feb 24 · 51 min ...more
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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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0:00 Hi, guys. I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to the basics with Beth where learning God's word is a joy. And I just wanna say we are so honored to be with you right here on0:12 pray dot com. In every message, we will do our best to teach you the bible basics in such a way that it strengthens your faith foundation. In0:23 addition, I want to empower and equip you so that you have confidence to share these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with your heart. If you'd0:35 like to know more about our ministry, just go to the basics with beth dot com and get all the scoop. With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message.0:48 I just really felt impressive on my heart to talk about the idea of streams in a desert story of Ruth. To look at the book and the story of Ruth. And I know some of us in the room, we1:00 will have read the book of Ruth, but maybe some of us in the room, we wouldn't have. And I believe that as we look at her story, God's gonna speak to us. Right? Ruth Ruth went through some unexpected things in her life.1:12 We're talking about streams in the desert. We're talking about seasons in our life that might feel dry. Seasons in our life that might feel dark, that even in those places, God will meet with us, and he1:24 will give us streams in the desert. And Ruth walked through a desert. We'll get more into her story as we go, but Ruth, she ended up losing her husband, and she ended up1:35 following her mother-in-law into a land that she did not know. And we see just these points of pain that Ruth has in her life that God brings great redemption to. We see that when1:47 Ruth walked through the desert, God met her. God brought her through. God changed her story. And that's what I wanna look at tonight. And I believe that tonight, just like Ruth, when she was in an1:59 unexpected road, an unexpected journey that she did not see coming. An unexpected journey full of pain, full of challenge that she wasn't aware of, she wasn't ready for. I believe that there are women in here tonight2:11 who can say, hey, yeah, that's me actually. I'm in the middle of an unexpected journey. I'm in the middle of dealing with some unexpected pain. Obviously, there's women in here who are in the middle of a valley.2:23 There's women in here who are on the top of a mountaintop celebrating the joyous things of life. And there's women in here who are probably just somewhere in between. Right? I mean, pastoral work, we're2:35 privy to a lot of people's pain. We're privy to knowing the challenges that we face as humans. We're privy to people's lives, the top, the highs, the lows, the in between. We're able to walk with2:47 them through it. You see, we're privy. We're there at the funeral. We're there when they lose somebody. We're there in the tears. We're there in the grief. We're there at the weddings. We're there at the birth of2:59 babies. We're there in the joyous moments. We're there in the success, and then we're there helping people just to walk with Jesus every day in between, in the middle of both of those areas. And I believe that tonight,3:10 there are women in every 1 of those areas. Maybe tonight, you're in a valley. Maybe tonight, you're on a mountaintop. Maybe tonight, you're somewhere in between. You know, even just this week, we were able3:22 to celebrate with a couple that we love who birthed a baby into the world, beautiful healthy baby boy. And then we also were grieving with a couple that actually had a stillborn. Right? It's the tension of life. It's the3:33 highs and it's the lows. It's the joys and it's the morning. It's the journey that we go on. And tonight, wanna look at that journey. And I wanna look at Just take a moment to ask you, if I were to sit down with all3:45 of you 1 on 1, which would be awesome, and I were to ask you this question, how are you doing? How are you really doing? What would you say? How are you3:57 doing? How are you really doing? Whatever is coming up in your heart right now, whatever that is, whether it's small or big, whether it's present moment pain, or whether it's just4:08 something that you're going through, something that you're walking through, whatever that is for you. How are you doing? How are you really doing? That's what I wanna bring to the Lord tonight. Okay? So can we go forward4:20 into this night with that in our mind, that on our hearts? Because the reality of pain is that it's often unexpected. Right? Ruth wasn't expecting to lose her husband and go on this journey to a lane that she4:31 didn't know. You know, you might not be expecting that your marriage is gonna have difficulties. You might not be expecting that you would be single for as long as you are single. You might not be expecting that you4:43 would walk through challenges getting pregnant. You might not be expecting that you would have a house that sets on fire. You might not be expecting that you would have a child with special needs. You might not be4:52 expecting that you would lose somebody that you love. You might not be expecting the pain or the challenges that we face in life, but I believe, and this is what we're gonna talk about tonight, that in the challenges5:02 that are unexpected in our lives, that actually positions us to expect the redemption of God to be woven through our stories. You are positioned to expect God to5:13 move. You are positioned to expect God to bring his redemption to every point of pain in your life. And Ruth experienced that. Ruth Ruth walked some pain, but she5:25 also experienced God's redemption and had a story to tell. So we're gonna look at her life. Tonight, 1 of the main scriptures that I wanna share to set the framework for the night is of Psalm 30 11 through 12. This is in5:35 the message version. This is on some of your cards, so hopefully it's the right girls that got that tonight. It says this, you did it. You changed wild lament into whirling dance. You ripped off my black morning band and5:47 decked me with wild flowers. I'm about to burst with song. I can't keep quiet about you. God, my God, I can't thank you enough. And this is my hope for tonight, that whatever might be an5:59 unexpected challenge for you, an unexpected point of pain, whether large or small, it doesn't matter. That Jesus, as we fix our eyes on him, he would take us from mourning to dancing. He6:10 would take us from ashes to beauty, from sorrow to joy. And that eventually eventually, our testimony would be this, God, my God, I can't thank you enough. If6:22 you're looking for a title for my message tonight, it's called The Road She Walked. Let's pray. Father, we love you and we are grateful to gather around your word today to find encouragement, to find life, to find6:34 hope. And I just pray wherever these women are that are here, Lord, you know their story. I don't know their story, but holy spirit, you know their story. And father, we ask that you would meet with us tonight. Every6:44 single 1 of us, whatever wherever we're at on the journey of life, that you would meet with us tonight, that you would bring your comfort, that you would bring your love, that you would bring your healing power, that you6:54 would free us, Lord, that you would bring your redemption tonight. So we love you. We welcome you in this room, father. We ask that you would speak to people uniquely, customize this message to every single person in7:05 Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen. Okay. Does anybody remember the trends probably about 15 years ago of the fake pearls that we would wear? Like long7:17 Annie, you remember this. Right? You would like layer it up and you would like wear the it's like almost like a Mardi Gras beads. So bad. Okay. It's right right around the same time. If you can't remember the pearls,7:28 this will surely jog your memory. When we used to layer colored shirts, and we would pop our colored does anybody did anybody do that? You would wear, like, 3 Aeropostale colored shirts, like,7:40 navy, turquoise, pink. You would wear them all at the same time, and then you would pop all 3 collars just to, like, really hit the trends. And then on top of the collars that you would pop, you would get the your7:52 fake pearls, and you would wear them, and you would probably wear, like, a denim skirt. Yeah. And Yes. I never got UGGs. Never real UGGs. Only fake UGGs. Thanks, mom.8:05 But I was on trend. I was trying to be on trend. But I was on trend, but I also was, like, a little bit bougie. So I wanted to wear some pearls. But unfortunately sorry if you guys can't hear me. I'm just trying8:16 to right. Unfortunately, my ear my skin is sensitive. And so if I have to wear earrings, I have to wear real gold earrings. Sorry, Eric. Or real silver earrings. I can't wear the fake stuff because I'll get like a8:26 little, you know, like a little rash or whatever. So I would tell my mom in high school, I'd say, mom, I need to wear your pearls, your real pearls. And she's like, it doesn't bother your skin. I'm like, I8:38 know. But I just wanna wear the real ones. Like, I don't wanna wear the fake ones. I wanna wear the real ones. And so tonight, as a prop, I brought my mom's real pearls that were her mom's. She let me wear8:50 these 1 time in high school during 1 of our dances, and I broke them. And I've never worn them again till now, and I still haven't worn them because I'm still afraid I'm gonna break So here I am holding them. So these9:01 pearls, I love pearls. Who else loves pearls? I don't wear them because I'm not really an elegant type of person, so I don't really wear pearls, but I like to look at them. And if you wear pearls, that's wonderful. I9:11 think they probably look wonderful on you. So anyways, pearls are amazing, and they're fascinating. And I'm so curious about them because they're all unique, and they're all different, and there's not 1 that's the same,9:22 and they're heavy. Like, when is the real pearl? Like, it's weighty, and I think it's so unique and elegant. And I was looking at how pearls were made because I'm fascinated by them, and I found this. I thought it would9:33 encourage some of us in the room tonight. A pearl is made from when something gets into the oyster. So it could be a piece of sand, could be a worm, could be anything that would cause like some9:44 irritation or pain to the oyster. And then this piece of pain, this piece of sand gets into the oyster, and as a way for the oyster to protect itself, all good, as a way for9:56 the oyster to protect itself, the oyster senses substance, it's called nacre. Okay? And it sends this substance into the thing that is causing pain. So into a piece of sand or into a worm, whatever got in the10:08 oyster, and it starts to layer it. So it layers it with nacre, it layers it, it layers it, and after a long period of time, that thing that actually was causing pain turns into a pearl.10:20 And I think it's interesting, I think it's really similar with our lives, that there's things that cause pain in our lives. There's points of pain that we walk through, that we're unexpected. And what God does is he10:30 takes his love, and he layers it, and layers it, and he layers his love on this piece of sand, this thing that the enemy tries to use to cause pain, until it becomes a pearl. And it becomes this10:42 beautiful testimony, and he gives us pearls for our pain because the pearl is just a healed wound. A pearl is a healed wound. And I wanna be really clear with all of us tonight that God10:54 is not the author of our pain. He isn't. He is not the author of our pain. He is the outworker of redemption in our lives, but he is not the author of our pain. We have an enemy who comes to steal,11:06 kill, and destroy. We have a God who comes to bring life and life abundantly, but this is what God does when we experience pain. When the enemy tries to come and bring things in our life, we live in a fallen world, we11:17 experience pain. This is what God does. God actually takes everything and he works it for our good. He works it for our good. He is faithful. He is a good father.11:29 Every good and perfect gift comes from above. Every good and perfect gift. And so if you're in the room right now and you have a piece of sand, but it might feel a lot bigger than that, a point of pain tonight,11:41 I'm gonna tell you that's not from God, but he loves you. And he will take you on a journey just like he took Ruth, To bring pearls, to bring things that are worthy, to bring precious jewels from every point of11:53 pain that we walk through. But here's the thing, here's the tension, because Ruth's story didn't just happen in a second. Right? It wasn't like, okay Ruth experienced great loss, and then a second later she's like, oh,12:04 you turned my morning to dancing. You turned my sorrow into joy. It didn't happen in just a second, and sometimes when we think about God's promises and his redemption, we just expect it to just like happen. Like Lord,12:15 come on. It's been a week. It's been a week God. Are you gonna redeem this? Where are you? And he's like, I'm working. And you're like, how long are you gonna be working? He's like, maybe for12:27 a little bit longer. Maybe for a little bit longer. You see the interesting thing, pearls can take anywhere from 6 months to 7 years to form. The redemption of God can be12:39 instant, but it also can be a process. It can be a process. And for Ruth, it was a process, and I believe for many of us in the room tonight, it also can be a process. So before we get12:51 further into the story of Ruth, I want to share this scripture with us. This is my hope for tonight, that we'd all be on the same page in this. And if this is all you get tonight, if you're in a moment of pain, this is13:01 all you get, that is enough. It says this, Psalm 27 13. This is David talking. He was in the middle of some pain, some unexpected challenges. He said, I would have lost heart13:13 unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living. I would have lost heart. That's option 1, losing heart. Unless13:25 I would have believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living, and this is my prayer tonight that all of us in the room, wherever we're at on the journey of life, that we would be a group of women13:37 that don't lose heart. That we wouldn't lose heart. Whatever we're walking through, the challenges, the pain we feel, we wouldn't lose heart, but that we would be a group of women who believe. That we will see the13:48 goodness of the Lord, where? In the land of the living. Not just 1 day when, not just in heaven when we get there though he will redeem everything then also, but in the land of the14:00 living. Here, now in my life here on earth that I will see God's goodness, that I might be walking through a storm, but I'm going to believe with all my heart, with all my soul, with all14:12 my mind, with all my strength that I will see the goodness of the God of the Lord in the land of the living. Even if I have to wait for it, even if I need to be patient, I'll see his goodness.14:24 That's what we're gonna hope for tonight. So with that being said, we're gonna follow the road Ruth Ruth wants and look at 3 courageous decisions that she made that I believe will encourage all of us to discover streams14:34 in the desert in any season that we walk through. Are you guys ready? Amen. Okay. Point number 1, Ruth chose loyalty over bitterness. Ruth chose loyalty14:46 loyalty to God over bitterness. Ruth's story starts out a lot like this. There's a family of 4, a Limelech and Naomi, a father and a mother, and there is a14:57 famine in the land. So they are struggling and they are from Judah, but they ended up going to a place called Moab to try to find some food because they heard Moab had food. So it's a difficult time right now15:09 in the land for them, and so they go to Moab and they eventually settle there. They find food and they settle there. They're there for 10 or 15 years, and during that period of time, they have 2 sons, Elimelech and15:21 Naomi. They have 2 sons. And while they're settled there, their 2 sons end up marrying 2 Moabites. So 1 is named Orpah and 1 is named Ruth. So enter Ruth into the story. Okay?15:33 So basically, what happens is a series of really difficult and challenging events. And because of the famine, Ali Malek actually passed away. So Naomi's husband passed away. And then in15:45 a period of years, both of Naomi's sons passed away. So she's grieving, right, as any of us would be grieving and struggling. And what happens is that Naomi tells her 2 daughter15:57 in laws, Orpah and Ruth, she tells them to go back to Moab because she's gonna travel to Judah. So Naomi makes the decision, I'm gonna go home. I'm gonna go home to my people. I'm gonna go home to my land. I'm gonna16:09 go back to Judah. I'm alone. I'm a widow. I don't know what else to do. I'm just going to go home. And she tells Orpah and her, she goes, you guys need to go marry somebody else. You need to keep living your lives. You16:20 are young. Go back to Moab. And and Orpah says, okay. I will. I think that's a good idea. So she returns back to Moab, then Ruth makes a really, really courageous decision. She16:32 makes a really courageous decision. She said, no, Naomi. I'm actually gonna stay with you. This is how she replied in Ruth 1 16. Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from16:43 you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and this is important, and your God will be my God. Where you die, I will16:55 die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me. When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. You see17:07 Ruth's devotion to to Naomi and to God actually came with a cost. Judah and Israel and Moab, they were enemies, and Ruth could have gone back home to Moab, and she could have gone back to her17:18 culture, and they would worship little g gods and pagan gods, but instead she went back to Judah. She said, I'm gonna be loyal to you Naomi. But also in that decision, I don't want us to miss this,17:30 she wasn't just choosing to be loyal to Naomi. She was choosing to be loyal to the God of Israel. She was saying, no Naomi, where you go, I will go. Who your God is, he will be my God.17:42 I'm turning my back on Moab and my home country and the gods and the culture that I served, and I'm walking with you back to Judah. I'm taking your god, the god of Israel on as my god. I choose him.17:54 And what I think is so interesting about this story is in this moment where both Naomi and Ruth were grieving, they were both experiencing loss. They responded 2 very different ways. Ruth18:06 chose loyalty to God, but Naomi chose bitterness. We see this in Ruth 1 20. This is what Naomi said. She says, don't call me Naomi, she told18:18 them. Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. The word Mara actually means a bitter place in the desert. How18:30 fitting is that for our theme tonight? Don't call me Naomi, Call me bitter. I'm changing my name. It's too much for me. I'm literally going to change my name. I'm going to identify18:42 with this pain. Call me bitter. But Ruth, she actually says, nope, I'm gonna be loyal to God. I'm gonna stick it out with him. It reminds me of Psalm 84 5 through18:53 7. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage as they pass through the valley of Baca, which means the valley of weeping, they make it a place of19:05 springs. The autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength till each appear before God in Zion. You see, the valley of Baca, the valley of weeping, was a real place. And19:17 it was a place that Jewish people, they would pass through the desert on their way coming to Jerusalem to gather. They would pass through the Valley of Baca. And why was it called this? Well, it was called this because19:29 it was literally in a desert, and the only trees that lived in that point of the desert would produce bitter oil. Bitter oil. Balsam oil. Things like that sticky.19:41 Nothing that was life. Nothing that was green. It was a desert. And the thing I love about Ruth is that even in the same pain, she chose to walk through the valley of19:52 Baca and to make it a place of streams, but Naomi chose to make camp. She made camp. She set up her camp in the valley of Baca, the valley of20:04 weeping, and she said, nope, just call me bitter. And I think it's easy, right, for us to think like, no, we're just gonna be like Ruth. I'm gonna be loyal to God. I'm gonna stick it out with him.20:16 But the reality is things happen in life, and it's easy. It's easy to say, I'm just actually gonna respond like Naomi. Just call me bitter. This is too hard.20:28 This is I didn't expect this. I don't wanna walk through this valley. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna put up my tent, and I'm just gonna stay right here in the valley of Baca, in the valley of20:40 weeping. But Ruth was able to make the valley of Baca into a place of springs. Ruth made the decision to pass through, and Naomi made the decision to make camp. My20:51 question for you this morning or this evening, sorry, is what decision will you make? What decision will you make? Maybe you're in a present moment of pain right now or maybe you aren't, but you might be 1 day, and I21:03 want these words to ring into your ears. What decision will you make? Will you choose to be loyal to God to stick it out because he will redeem every point of pain if we stick with21:15 him? Or will you make camp in bitterness? Will you change your name? Right? It's so easy in the moment to change our name and to identify with these things as pain, and we start to21:27 question God's character. In this moment, we start to question that God's character in seasons where we have more questions than answers. We're like, God, where are you? What are you doing? I thought you were good. I21:38 thought you were for me. I thought you were gonna make all things work together for good. Where are you? But I wanna encourage us, if that's you tonight, hold tight to the God that you know. He will get21:49 you through. He will get you through. It reminds me of a story, when Eric and I were living in Australia, there was a girl in 1 of our classes, and she became a good friend. Her name was Tanya. And, when I first met22:01 Tanya, I was just drawn to her. I felt like, wow, she just knows God, like she loves God, and she's got a depth to her, and she's just like I love her. And then about 6 months later, I started to hear Tanya's story. We22:12 went out to coffee and she told me her story. And she told me, I was not expecting this, but she told me that a few years previous, she had been married, and she lost her husband 1 night overnight just out of nowhere.22:24 And then she found out she was pregnant, and then she lost her baby, and she went through the valley of Baca. She went through it, and you know, we cried together as she was telling me her story, which is22:36 fitting for that. And then she eventually, which is just such a beautiful story, we were serving on the same team together in church, and we were serving with a guy who the the leader of our team was named Rajeevan. And22:47 he had never been married, and he was in his late thirties, and he was just the kindest soul. And eventually, Rajeevan and Tanya started to talk, and they formed this beautiful relationship, and over the course22:59 of a few years, they ended up getting married. And they ended up getting pregnant. And they have an amazing beautiful baby girl, and she has a story to tell of God's redemption, of God giving us pearls for23:11 pain. And Tanya is an incredible person, but what I loved most about my moment meeting her, she blessed me. She helped me to grow in God. What I loved most, we were sitting in class 1 day. This is before she got married23:22 to Rajeevan. Okay? So this is still her in the process, in the middle, and we're sitting in class, and she finally had, like, gotten up the courage to share her story with our class. And so she shared her story, and23:33 finally at the end of this, she we had questions, and 1 of our friends, in class, she raised her hand, and she asked this question, which is kind of a fair question. She said, Tanya, how did you not get mad at23:45 God? And Tanya, I'll never forget it. She looked her dead in the eyes, and she said, why would I be mad at God? He was all I had. He was all23:57 I had. He's the only 1 who was going to get me through. He's the only 1 who can give me joy for mourning. He's the only 1 who can give me beauty for ashes. He's the only 1 who can turn my24:09 story around. He's the only 1 who can bring redemption. Why would I be mad at him? He's the only 1. He's all I have. And I've just been feeling in my spirit as I've been preparing that there's some24:21 woman in this room that maybe you have some misguided angst. But you're walking through something, and you're wondering, God, what? You're you're just a little bit upset on the inside, and you have some24:32 misguided angst. And I wanna tell you that God is kind and he is patient and he is long suffering with us, and he can handle the full extent of our human emotions. But our angst is not towards him,24:44 he's all we have. He is a good father. If we're gonna have some angst, let's turn it towards the enemy and remember who our father is and who the enemy is. I'm not24:56 mad at God. God's all I have. He's the only 1 who's going to get me through this. It reminds me of Lamentations 3 24 through 27 in the message. It says this, God's loyal love couldn't25:08 have run out. His merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great is your faithfulness? I'm sticking with God. I say it over and25:20 over, he's all I've got left. God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope.25:32 Quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out in the hard times. So let's respond like Ruth in the face of challenge, not like Naomi. Let's respond, no25:44 Lord, I'm gonna be loyal to you. I'm sticking it out with you because I believe that if I stick it out with you, you will bring redemption to my story. I'm not gonna make camp in bitterness. I'm not gonna let it take me25:55 off my course. I'm gonna follow you because I know that you are faithful. And I believe as we do that, as we believe that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, that he will bring his26:07 redemption to every part of our story in Jesus' name. Point number 1. Point number 2, Ruth chose trust over control. Chose trust over control. Let's pick back26:19 up in the story in Ruth chapter 2 verse 1 through 4. Now Naomi had a relative on her husband's side, a man of standing with the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. Introduced into the story,26:31 Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi said Naomi, let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain before anyone in whose eyes I find favor. Naomi said to her, go ahead my26:42 daughter. And so she went out, entered a field, and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out pay attention to that phrase. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to26:54 Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. You see, Ruth wasn't sure what to do next. She had made the decision, I'm going to stick it out with God. I'm going to be loyal. I'm not gonna be bitter.27:06 But now what do I do? Well, Ruth just kept putting 1 foot in front of the other. She said, well, need food. It's been a famine. I guess I'm gonna go out and pick up some food. I guess I'm gonna just show up today. I'm27:17 gonna go try to find something, go make make make use of my time. So she goes to the fields, and what would happen at this time, you know, culturally is that God would tell people to leave behind some scraps of of the27:28 barley as people were doing the harvesting, scraps for the widows, scraps for the poor, and for the foreigners. And so Ruth just finds her way to this random field. She's just putting 1 foot in front of another, finds27:40 her way to this field, and as it turned out, it was Boaz's field. And she starts to gather these scraps from his field, and here we start to see a little bit of trickle of God's redemption. I wanna27:52 look at this in in Ruth 2 8. It says this, so Boaz said to Ruth, my daughter listen to me. Don't go and clean in glean in another field and don't go away from here. Stay here with the woman28:04 who worked for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the woman. I had told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men28:14 have filled. At this, Ruth bowed down with her face to the ground and she asked him, why have I found such favor in your eyes that you even noticed me, a foreigner? Boaz replied, I love this, he said, I've been28:26 told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. How you left your father and mother in your homeland and came to live with the people that you did not know before. May the Lord28:37 repay you for what you have done, for your loyalty. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.28:49 Right? A little bit of a trickle of God's redemption. The story is turning, taking some twists, and I want us to put ourselves in Ruth's shoes. She had struggled for many years in a famine. She was living in29:01 rarity and in scarcity. She was simply looking for scraps. She wasn't expecting such mercy, such goodness, such kindness, such love, such abundance from a man named29:13 Boaz, but truly from a man named God. And when we come to God, I think it often is the same. We come to him quite like a prodigal. And we are just looking for scraps. Oh, God, just forgive me. Oh, just just give me a29:25 little bit of mercy. I know I've messed up, but God forgive me. But when in fact, he has prepared a feast for us. He is a God of abundance, and he never does redemption29:36 halfway. We see that God actually rewards Ruth's decision to be loyal. And later on in this scripture, it talks about how she could have more than enough. She actually went home with more than enough to bring to29:47 Naomi, that God actually rewarded her with more than enough. Our relationship with God, it is a feast. It is not a famine. He is your father.29:59 And what I wanna encourage you is that Ruth was so moved by this 1 moment of kindness with Boaz. Right? She was just trusting God. The the the road ahead was still foggy. She had chose loyalty, not bitterness,30:11 but she didn't know what was gonna happen next. She didn't know what God was gonna do. She was just trusting God, and I believe that a lot of us are in that space. We decided, nope, God, I'm gonna stick it out with you.30:21 I'm going to see your redemption. I'll see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I believe, but we're still in the middle. We're walking it out day by day. We're trusting God. We haven't seen the fullness30:33 of it yet. The testimony hasn't come, but it's on the way. And we're just walking it out. We're trusting him. We can't see quite clearly, but we're we're showing up. And I believe that Ruth, this moment with Boaz, it30:44 moved her. And I think that it's so interesting that when we're in a desert season, 1 word from God can mean anything. It can mean everything to us. It is life to us. 130:55 word, 1 encouragement that Boaz gave Ruth in her season, it was life for her. And it's interesting that when we're in a desert season, 1 word from God can mean life to us. But when we're on the31:07 mountaintop, 100 word from God might mean less to us. Right? When you're in this place, when you're a little bit desperate, and you hear a word from God, oh, that's life. Your heart clings to you. Oh,31:19 okay, God. That's life. That's 1 thing. I know you're working. I know you're working. I don't see it, but I but I've seen you start, and I've seen the the you're starting. You're beginning to put a story of redemption31:29 together. I know you're working. So my encouragement for all of us in the room tonight is that we would be women who help to bring that 1 word to people. We don't know what people are walking through. You don't know31:41 what your neighbor is walking through. But can I encourage you, if they are in a desert season, they might just need 1 word from God to hold on to? They might just need 1 word of God to give them life. They might just31:51 need 1 word of God to give them hope. They might just need 1 person to step out in faith and say, hey, God sees you. You're not alone. I don't know what you're walking through, but he's gonna get you through. He's gonna32:02 take your hand through the valley of Baca, and he's gonna lead you through to the other side. You're not alone. He loves you. He sees you. Sometimes simply that is enough for somebody to say, okay, God. I'm gonna wait32:13 another day. I'm gonna wait another day. So let's be those types of woman. I find it interesting chapter 2 ends with this 1 sentence. And Ruth is written a bit like a story, so it kinda ends this32:25 moment. Says this in chapter 2 verse 23, so Ruth stayed close to the woman of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvest were finished, and she lived with her mother-in-law.32:36 Period. Like that's what Ruth did for a season of time. She just kept, you know, harvesting some barley and she lived with her mother-in-law. She just did that for32:48 like whatever amount of time, and sometimes we're like, yeah, but God's redemption is gonna come. And I was like, yeah, but sometimes you have a season of collecting the barley and living with your mother-in-law. We've32:59 all been there. I've lived with my mother-in-law. Beth, I love you if you're watching online. It's a good thing, good person to live with. But it just ends there. It's like, Ruth, what are you doing? And she's like, I'm33:11 just collecting barley. I don't know. I don't know what's next for me. I'm just trusting God. I don't have control. I'm not trying to take the reins back of my story. I'm just trusting God. And I wanna look at this this33:23 little this little phrase that it says in in Ruth 2 4. It says this, it says, as it turned out, Ruth was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. But how many of us33:34 know that that wasn't just happenstance? It wasn't just, oh, as it turned out, Ruth just ended up working in Boaz's field. No. No. No. Ruth probably felt that in the moment.33:46 Oh, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna go find a field, and I'm just gonna go look for it. And the thing about the story of Ruth, the book of Ruth, is that we don't see the name of God mentioned often, but we do see the hand33:57 of God at work in every page, in every scripture. And I wanna encourage some of you in the room tonight, where you're just like, I'm just putting 1 foot in front of the other. I'm just having to trust God. I'm doing what34:07 I know to do. I I don't feel like I have a great, like, future ahead. I don't know what's happening. But can I tell you that God is working behind the scenes? And there will be some as it turned out moments in your life34:19 where you will look back just like Ruth looked back, and you will say, God, you were working. You are moving. I didn't see it. I didn't understand it. I didn't even give you credit for it because I thought it was just an34:29 as it turned out type of moment for me, but you were moving. When I couldn't see it, you were working. There's a song that we sing that says, even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I34:41 don't feel it, you're working. You never stop. You never stop working. Amen. You never stop, God. You never stop working. If you're in here tonight and you're like, God's not working, can I tell34:53 you, yes, he is? Yes, he is. As it turned out, you will look back, and you will see his hands in every part of your story. You will weave it all together. He will bring redemption, and35:05 you will look back, and you will give God the glory even if you don't see it right now. So what can we do? What can we do? Women, when we're35:17 in that season, I've been in that season so many times. I chose loyalty. I'm not choosing bitter. I'm gonna wait it out with God. I'm gonna stick it out with him, but I am just waiting. What can we do? Well,35:29 there's 3 ways that we can wait. We can wait quietly. Let all that I am wait quietly before God because my hope is in him. Psalm 62 5. We can wait patiently. Be35:41 still in the presence of the Lord and wait patiently for him to act. He will act. He is already acting. Psalm 37 7. And you can wait expectantly. I will wait35:52 expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised, and he is good on his promises. So let's be like Ruth. When you're in the middle of some unexpected36:04 pain or challenge, let's choose to trust God with our future and wait on him because we might not know what our future holds, but we know the 1 who holds our future and he has it all planned36:16 out. Let's not lose heart while we're waiting, but let's believe while we're waiting that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Let's keep doing what we know to do. Let's put 1 foot in36:28 front of the other. Let's keep showing up, worshiping him, giving him our all. And I believe that as we do, we'll look back and see his hands over every step, every piece of our story. Number36:39 3, Ruth chose faith over fear. She chose faith over fear. Here's where Ruth's story really starts to pick up speed, and the keys they can come on up now. Ruth 3 1 through 4 says36:51 this, 1 day Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi said to her, my daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. Now Boaz, with whose woman you have worked, is a relative of ours.37:03 Tonight, he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor, follow me here, it's a bit confusing, wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don't let him know37:13 that you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, note the place where he was lying, then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.37:25 What? Like what? He'll tell you what to do? Like what am I getting myself into, Naomi? Like have you ever received a word from God like that? It's like, alright Alexa, I'm37:37 gonna have you go here and do this, and then when you get there, I'm gonna tell you what to do. Okay. Like, what? Ruth had to choose faith over fear. So I'm gonna explain some context37:49 because this is a bit strange. It's a bit of a cultural thing happening here. So basically, Boaz is what is to Ruth. It's called a kinsman redeemer. It's a Hebrew word goel, and this term is38:01 a cultural term. So when somebody in your family would pass, you would have a relative that would be called a kinsman redeemer. And this relative would be responsible to marry the widow of38:13 the family. So Boaz, as it turns out, right, as it turns out, is the kinsman redeemer for Ruth. And Naomi is telling her, hey Ruth, go38:25 go do this crazy thing. Go lay down at Boaz's feet while he's sleeping, and when he wakes up, he's gonna tell you what to do. But what does that mean? Basically, Ruth was asking Boaz to marry him. Alright? That'sShow more
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