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Unusual Suspects: Ruth - From Brokenness to Blessing
July 9, 2025 · 39 min
Pastor John Mark Caton dives into the remarkable story of Ruth to illustrate that even in the depths of grief, there is a path to redemption and new beginnings.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton July 9, 2025 · 39 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark Caton dives into the remarkable story of Ruth to illustrate that even in the depths of grief, there is a path to redemption and new beginnings. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark Caton dives into the remarkable story of Ruth to illustrate that even in the depths of grief, there is a path to redemption and new beginnings.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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The Journey of Ruth: From Loss to Redemption 0:00 Glad you're in God's house today? Yes, sir. Oh, man. It sounds like what a great day we've already had. Welcome to those of you who are joining us online. We've been in the middle of a series, if you happen to be new, in0:11 person or online, a new series started throughout the summer entitled Unusual Suspects, where we've been looking at the people that God chose to use that most people would have overlooked. But we also want to0:22 be be reminded that, you know when God puts together a team that He wants to do something with, He's not looking at your resume, He just simply wants your heart. Remember the first week we looked at a guy named Moses and0:34 Moses had been in the wilderness for 40 years, God shows up, says Moses, I want you to go speak to Pharaoh, I want you to go to Pharaoh's court, I want you to tell him we're going to remove the children out of slavery,0:44 take them into the promised land. You remember what Moses did? Spent the entire chapter and a half saying I'm not qualified, God finally says perfect, you're hired. And then we looked at0:55 Esther who was an orphan, who became queen, that God placed her in the right time for such a time as that to save his people. Then we looked at David, that overlooked1:07 little brother, that shepherd boy that looked like anything but a king. And sure enough, God makes him a king and he becomes an heir of Jesus. Today, we want to look at Ruth. You're probably familiar1:19 with some, at some point, with the story of of Ruth. We're gonna journey through the entire book, all 4 chapters, and we're gonna look at this Moabite widow who follows her widowed1:31 mother-in-law back to God's place and she comes and goes from being a Moabite widow to an heir to David and ultimately to Jesus. You know, when you look in1:43 God's word, just like we're gonna see today with Ruth, there's a lot of loss in the Bible. There's a lot of grieving in the Bible. There's a lot of weeping in the Bible. Why? Because that's real life.1:55 My guess is just in this room and the earlier service and the next 1 and those people joining us online, there's a lot of loss. You go back, remember a guy named Joseph? He lost his family, he was betrayed by his2:07 brothers, he was sold into slavery, ultimately rose to the top of Potiphar's house, was lied about, lost his freedom, was imprisoned. Ultimately God blessed him in the end. Remember Hannah?2:19 That childless want to be mother. Just weeping and crying in God's house, the loss of what she thought was the opportunity to have a child. She prayed, she cried, she was mocked by2:31 others. Seemed like everybody else was blessed more than she was and God ultimately blessed her with a child. Remember the story of the prodigal son. That father, he lost his son.2:43 That son lost his purity. Then the father receives 1 son back and remember then immediately there's family disharmony, the son that stayed there is jealous of the 1 that left and took everything.2:55 There's a lot of loss in the Bible. Why? Because there's a lot of loss in this room. Remember Mary and Martha lost Lazarus? And even3:07 Jesus it says, he wept bitterly. So as we talk about today the idea of loss, here's what I understand, this isn't an abstract idea for some people. It's a3:19 reality for all people at some point. Probably the 2 most, well known verses, in the book of Ruth. Notice this, it's when Naomi says listen, Ruth and Orpah,3:31 the other daughter-in-law, not Oprah Orpah. Go back, stay in Moab, don't go to Bethlehem and here was Ruth's reply and this is what most people hear if they know a couple of verses, they know these 2 verses.3:44 But Ruth replied to Naomi, do not urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.3:56 Where you die, I will die, there I will be buried. May the lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, even if death separates you and me. You know as I was just doing a lot of4:08 research this weekend and reading about grieving, I I just want to focus on 3 of them today because these are the ones that are most common. There could have been many other losses we talk about. But there are some in4:18 here, probably in here and perhaps online, that that you've lost a spouse. And I was just doing a lot of study on the on the grieving process and how long it takes and how many in here you've lost a4:30 spouse, you've lost a spouse. Look at the hands go up. The peak intensity of the grieving season the first 6 months, just a train wreck, right? And then typical recovery4:42 time is still another 1 to 2 plus years and then notice what I put in there in parenthesis, waves of grief that continue to come. I've always said that grief is like going to the4:54 beach, going about waist deep out into the water, into the ocean or into the gulf or in somewhere and then turning your back on the water and looking back toward land. You don't know when the5:06 waves are gonna hit you, but you know they are. And sometimes they just show up and they overwhelm you and they'll knock you off your feet. And that's kinda what happens with grief. The rest of your life, if you lost a5:16 spouse, there might be just a smell, a song, a a color that you look at and all of a sudden something that seems innocuous to everyone else just causes you to be overwhelmed by grief.5:29 Loss of a child. How many of you in this room or even online, you've lost a child? Look at the hands going up. And sometimes this is miscarriage as well. Boy, and look at the length of time for a year, you're5:41 a wreck. Then over the next couple of 1 to 2 years, you begin to rally back a bit. Notice it says those who lose a child,5:53 some 20 percent have symptoms the rest of their life. Just those moments and seasons of grief. The other 1, most common 1 probably in the room is divorce. That all of a6:05 sudden you're in this happily, what you thought was a happy marriage or at least knew it was a marriage, a committed 1, and all of a sudden your husband or your wife walks in and says I'm done. You have this loss, this6:17 grieving moment and it takes 6 months of just just brokenness and being beaten down and struggling. It takes 1 to 2 or 3 years longer just for you to recover and get back on your6:29 feet. Grief is a real thing. As we look at the story of Ruth today, we're gonna kinda see a process that she goes through. You might want to just write these down but I'm gonna give you 4 ideas here in a minute. But6:39 there are kind of 5 R's to her redemption. Boy, starts with run, no 1 likes to be there. She lost her husband. Naomi started with run, she lost her husband and both of her6:51 sons. They had some resolve, we just read it there where where Ruth says, you know what, I'm gonna make a commitment to you, I'm gonna make a commitment to Naomi, I'm gonna make a commitment to go to your place. Your7:01 people will be my people. Then then as we see in chapter 2 today here in a second is that is that Ruth begins to develop her reputation. In a new place, in a new land without a husband and a reputation as7:13 1 of someone that's hard working and cares about someone else. And takes note and Boaz sees it. And then they find out Boaz is actually 1 of their kinsmen redeemers. And Naomi, and Ruth, kind of behind the7:25 scenes, they develop this plan. We're gonna read it here in a second, that she's gonna, take a bath and put on her best dress and put the makeup on. And so you got Ruth and Naomi, they've they've devised this scheme and7:37 poor Boaz just like today, he's got no clue what in. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Ladies, this is the stuff you do. You got Boaz over there just thinking, hey I'm rolling through life. He had no idea 27:49 women are conspiring against him, right? And they put together this plan and they have this bold request. And then you have redemption, where8:01 Boaz takes Ruth as his wife and they have a child, but it's not just any child. It's a child that ultimately ends up in the line and the lineage of Jesus. You know, losses all through the Bible, you remember the story,8:13 probably the greatest 1 that most people know of. If you said a story of loss pastor, you'd go to Job. Remember Job lost everything? He he he lost his children, lost his family, lost his business,8:25 lost his health, even lost his reputation, lost everything. And you go through the first 41 chapters and you're like, is this ever gonna get better? And then his friends show up and say, hey Job, listen I got an idea,8:36 you've lost everything, why don't you just repent? Sometimes God's people will say some mean things to people in broken situations. And they go to Job and they say, why don't you just repent?8:48 He goes, repent of what? And they just simply say, well listen, God has taken all this away from you, he must be mad at you, you must have some hidden secret sin in your life and he didn't. So for9:00 41 chapters it looks difficult, it looks hard. You get to chapter 42 and I love these words, look at it chapter 42 of Job verse 10. After Job had prayed for9:12 his friend, now if you go read the story of Job, that's a big step right there. Just to just to stop and pray for the guys that have been saying, listen, we know this, you don't lose9:24 all this without being a sinner. You don't lose all this without having some hidden sin and he gets to a point where he steps back, he's no longer mad at them and it says, he prayed for his9:35 friends. His sorry friends. And then it says, and the Lord restored his fortune and gave him twice as much as he had before. So here's9:47 the point, if you're in 1 of these seasons of loss, if if you're like Ruth or if you're that father or mom with a with a prodigal son or if you're a childless Hannah in this room or or you're Ruth and9:59 Naomi, man stay in there. And so let's, let me give you 4 thoughts, 1 from each chapter today, on how to recover from a broken heart. How to journey10:11 through your season of loss. Starts number 1, don't ever forget this, lessons from Ruth. Number 1, a broken start doesn't mean a bitter end. A broken start never10:23 means a bitter end. God always wants to show up in your life and in my life with power and grace and blessings. Not just to bless us, but so that we can turn around and10:35 bless other people. So the story of, of Ruth, if you're with Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the last verse of the book of Judges says there was no king in the land and everyone did what was right in their own10:47 eyes. Now, 1 of the things that happened is there was a place called Moab that's just kinda northeast of the dead sea. Though the Moabites, Moabites were the offspring of Lot's ancestral10:59 relationship, sexual relationship with his daughter, okay? So God said the Moabites are never to come into the tabernacle, never to come into the tent and you don't wanna spend time in the Moabite nation.11:11 But here's what happened, there was a famine in the land of Bethlehem, which means the house of bread, the place of bread. There was a famine in Israel so Elimelech, instead of honoring God and figuring out a different11:23 way, he chooses to go to this place that God said don't go to in Moab. So look at Deuteronomy chapter 23 verse 3. Notice what God says, no Ammonite or Moabite or any of11:35 their descendants may enter the assembly of the lord, not even to the tenth generation. So God said, there's some bad people. And God's people should not go dwell with them, but that's exactly what Lamech11:46 Elimelech does. He he takes him, his wife Naomi and his 2 sons, goes off to Moab. And so now let's jump into the story, Ruth chapter 1 verse 3. Now Elimelech,11:59 Naomi's husband died and she was left then with her 2 sons and 2 daughter in laws. They married Moabite women, 1 named Orpah, again not Oprah, and the other12:11 other married Ruth, after they had lived there for about 10 years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died. So here Naomi, is in a distant land and a distant place because her husband had12:22 led her there. She faithfully followed, he dies, then her 2 sons die. You talk about loss, you talk about bitterness, you talk about grief. And Naomi was left without.12:34 Everybody say without. Without. That's the idea of loss. When there's something we cherish, something we lose and then all of a sudden we wake up 1 day and find ourself without that. Says without her 212:46 sons and her husband. So she does what she should have done. She says, listen I am in a distant plan, a distant place, I've lost everything, I am12:57 without. The only thing I can do is turn and go back to Bethlehem. So she starts making her journey back to Bethlehem and her daughter in laws follow her for a season. They're like, you're our you're13:09 our mother-in-law. We're gonna go with you. There comes a time and a moment where all of a sudden Naomi says, this isn't right. You don't need to follow me, I've got13:21 nothing for you. Those are your people. So so Naomi turns and looks at them and says, you need to stay. You need to go back to your people, stay in your land, I've got nothing for you. And then13:33 these amazing words that we hear from Ruth, and if you want a simple plan to bounce back, here it is just found in these words. Here, let me give you a couple of steps and you see them just in the words. If you're in the13:44 middle of loss, if you're struggling, if you're grieving, if you're hurting, here it is. And so she says go back, but Ruth replied, here's her plan, God's best for you, listen to this, you might want to write this down.13:55 God's best for you after loss requires you. That you have to step up and participate in his plan, it requires me. And so here it is, but Ruth replied,14:07 don't urge me to leave you or turn back away from you. So thought number 1, if you're gonna recover from loss, you gotta reject some bad advice. Naomi is giving bad advice,14:19 but she's doing it for a good reason. The good reason is, you're a Moabite. I'm an Israelite, this is your land, that's my land. I've got nothing for you, you14:31 need someone to provide for you. So here's what happens, she gives bad advice, don't come to the place of God. And child of God, sometimes we need to understand, hurting people will give you bad advice.14:43 And we've got to have wisdom and discernment to understand where does God want me to go. See God didn't want Ruth back in Moab. God wanted Ruth in Bethlehem. God allowed some things to14:55 happen so the circumstances would put her in that place so he could show his grace and his love even to a Moabite who was not allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord. And so thought15:07 number 1, if you're gonna make a journey back to a place of blessing, it starts with, man understand a lot of people are gonna give you advice but you've got to reject the bad advice. Now jump forward, don't urge me to15:18 leave you or turn back. Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Here's the second thing, after you reject bad advice, choose the right path. Choose the right direction.15:31 See if you've gone through a loss, if you've lost a spouse or you've lost a marriage or or you've lost a child, you need to understand alright, what is the path I'm gonna choose? Where am I gonna head? Where am I gonna15:40 go? And ultimately I'm telling you, it's gonna lead you to a place where after you've walked through your peak grief process and the intensity begins to wane a little bit, part of it is you're gonna then turn15:52 around and help someone else navigate through that same loss down the road. So she picks the path. She says, where you go, I will go. Where you stay, I will stay. Now notice this, your people will be16:04 my people and your God will be my God. She chooses the right people to be around. Not only did she rejected bad advice, then she chose the right direction, then she surrounds herself with the16:16 right people. Child of God, if you are going through a loss or if you're in a loss, don't go through it alone. That is why we have lots of care ministries here at the church, we have divorce16:27 care. Because we don't want you to go through it alone. We have divorce care for kids, because we don't want them to go through it alone. We have grief share, why? Because we don't want people to grieve alone.16:39 We want people to be with God's people and to be with the right people heading in the right path and rejecting bad advice. That's why we have our care ministry. That's why we have our counselors. Because we don't want16:50 anyone to journey through their loss alone. Jump back in and notice what she says. She says your people will be my people and your God will be my God. Look at verse 17, where you die I will die. Now that's commitment.17:03 Says where you die I will die and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me and here's the sacrificial part, may the lord deal with me. Here's my oath to you, be it ever so severely, even if death17:14 separates you and me. And the final step, they took action. See had they just stood there somewhere between Moab and Bethlehem and had17:26 this incredible conversation and stayed there, they would've never seen redemption. They would've never seen God's grace. So instead, what they had to do is when they chose the right direction, chose17:38 the right people, rejected bad advice, the next verse says they went to Bethlehem. So child of God, once you've gone through this grief season, this grief process, you've17:50 gotten good advice, you've surrounded yourself by good people, you've made a commitment, then you need to take action. It says they went to Bethlehem. Now listen, just because this conversation happened, Naomi's not over18:02 it folks. She is still in that peak grieving season and grieving time. Look down to verse 20, this is how we know she's not through it. As she gets back in, the ladies begin to say, look18:14 Naomi has made it home. Notice Naomi's response. She says, don't call me Naomi, she told them, call me Mara because the almighty has done what?18:26 Made my life very bitter. She's kind of pointing to God. By the way, that's that's very natural. When you lose something, whether it's a marriage or a child or you18:37 know or or a spouse, a lot of times people will point and say God did this or why did you allow this to happen? That is a very natural thing. Naomi's showing it to us right here. She says don't call me Naomi.18:49 She told them, call me Mara. Why? Because the almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, I had my husband and sons. But the lord, notice again, pointing at god,19:01 the lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? Why? Because the lord has afflicted me, the almighty has brought misfortune on me. She is absolutely19:14 pointing the finger at God. Naomi is bitter, she is grieving, she is hurting, she feels like she has no place, so I'm just gonna go back to Bethlehem. When I go back to Bethlehem, no19:26 one's gonna want me, I'm a failure, I need forgiveness, I need love, I've been forgotten about. Don't even call me nay or just call me bitter because God has done it. She's hopeless.19:38 Maybe there's someone in this room and someone online perhaps that you're in that same space. You're bitter and you're broken, you feel lost, you feel unwanted, you feel alone. Can I19:50 just remind you in this story that God always has a plan? God always has a plan. If you're just sitting there and you're swirling in your own grief, can I tell you if you'll make some of those commitments,20:02 take the right advice, surround yourself with the right people, you'll be shocked at how good God will be to you in the future? So chapter 1, it's a bitter beginning. Here's chapter 2, when you20:14 begin to make your journey, be faithful in the fields of the ordinary. See a lot of times we want God to show up in powerful and amazing and crazy ways, we want to be glitz and glamor and this and that. Listen, God's20:26 greatest blessings sometimes come in the field of the ordinary. Just as you are out there working in the field where no 1 notices and you don't think anybody's seen, look at Ruth chapter 2 verse 3.20:38 So Naomi, they get back to Bethlehem, Ruth looks up and says, you know what? We're gonna starve to death. I gotta do something. Naomi says, well listen, you know God's will and God's way is that that you could go out and20:50 glean the margins of the fields. So here it is, verse 3. So she, Ruth, went out, entered a field, she didn't know God was at work. Boaz didn't know God was at work. Naomi didn't know God was at21:02 work. Entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. Kind of a nobody, she's just out there working. As it turned out, this is a God thing, God works in coincidences21:14 often times. As it turns out what, she was working in the field that belonged to Boaz, who was a successful and generous man who was from the child or from the clan of Elimelech. So here it21:26 is, Naomi just says, listen go out and glean in the field. Ruth has no idea whose field she's gleaning in, she just knows she's supposed to go out. See if you look at Leviticus chapter 15, chapter 1521:38 and chapter 23, before the children of Israel entered into the promised land, God says listen, some of you are gonna be wealthy, some of you are not. Some of you are gonna have a lot, some of you are gonna have very21:50 little. But to the wealthy person who has lots of fields to harvest, he he he he he doesn't he doesn't downgrade them, but he says here's what you're gonna do, you're not gonna consume everything you have for yourself.22:03 You're gonna leave margins for other people. And those margins, you're not supposed to harvest all the way to the end of the field. In other words, they were leaving money on the table. Literally, by leaving grain out in22:13 the field, they were leaving money on the table. But God said this is the way it's gonna be because the orphans and the widow and the poor are gonna come along and they're gonna work for it. You don't have to take it to22:23 them, you don't have to give it to them, you don't have to mail it to them. They have to come work for it, they have to have some sweat equity in the deal. But God says, here's what you're gonna do, you're gonna care for22:32 other people. Look at it in Leviticus chapter 23. Here it is. Here's the biblical recipe for caring for people. When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the22:44 very edges of the field or gather gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor. And notice what it says, and the foreigner. That's exactly who Naomi22:56 was, Ruth was. She was a foreigner and it says, residing among you, I am the Lord your God. So she's just out there gleaning in the field. God's orchestrating a blessing she doesn't see. Had she stayed23:08 in Moab, she would have never seen this blessing. Had she come to Bethlehem and not gone out and worked and gleaned in the field, she would have never seen what God was about to do. So jump forward, look at the23:19 next verse, we're right back to Ruth chapter 2 verse 12. Said what happens, Boaz, someone comes up to Boaz, says hey Boaz, do you know who that lady is out there? And Boaz says I don't know, but I've been23:31 watching her and she's working on. Said, that is Naomi's daughter-in-law. And she has been gleaning the field every day, taking care of her mother-in-law when she could have stayed back in Moab and noticed23:43 what happens. Boaz says that's pretty awesome. Here it is, verse 12. And so Boaz said to her, may the lord repay you for what you have done. Talking about what you've done for Naomi. May you rich be richly rewarded23:55 by the lord, the god of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. So listen, Boaz has no idea what God's plan is. But Boaz says may God bless you and so here's24:07 Boaz, he just lived a generous life. Instead of harvesting everything, he left the margins. And and we're here today on Make Room Sunday. And if you haven't known, this is the grand this is the grand24:19 opening of our brand new student building. I want to encourage you, when you leave today, just go walk through it. We got cookies and video and stuff playing in there, balloons. But here's what I want you to do, I want24:30 you to go in there and walk around and just say a prayer. Say God, do something powerful and real in students lives and college students life because we simply made24:41 room in the margins to build them a place and to build them a space. And so child of God, what you're doing through Makram is exactly what it said. You don't harvest it all, you don't eat it all, you don't care for it24:53 all, you leave some for others. You make sure that you can have an impact. So look at verse 14, here it is. At mealtime Boaz said to her, come over here, have some bread and dip it in the wine and the25:05 vinegar. And when she sat down, when she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some some roasted grain. In other words, now he started cooking for her. See, before that, she had25:17 to take it back, she had to thresh it, she had to make it, she had to bake it. Now all of a sudden he's gone to his chef said hey let's give her some of what we have. Jump down to verse 20, says the lord25:28 bless him, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, He has stopped showing he has not stopped showing his kindness to you living and the dead. Now notice, here Naomi is changing.25:40 She's no longer angry at god, she's beginning to move out of the grief process. She's got god cares for us. That man, she says, is our close relative and our guardian redeemer. So here's what happened. So Ruth comes25:52 home, says you're never gonna guess what happened. Boaz thanked me for taking care of you, then he invited me to eat with his men and not only did he invite me to eat with his men, they prepared some for me.26:04 And then Naomi goes, well I've got good news. He's a kinsman redeemer. You can go look in God's word at what that, what the requirements are, but let's just simply, if you wanna26:16 write them down, here's the note. They had to be a close relative of some kind, they had to have a willingness if someone's husband died, they had to have a willingness. It wasn't forced, it was a26:27 choice that you got a chance to say yes, I will take this widow in, I will take this daughter-in-law in to care for her. It was a choice. Next, you had to be willing to pay pay the26:39 way and pay the price for them the rest of their life. So this was not a cheap endeavor for anyone to do. Here you are gonna take a widow in or or or take a a widow daughter-in-law and you're gonna take somebody in and26:51 your commitment is a willing choice that I'm gonna provide for them the rest of their lives. You know, spiritually speaking,27:03 Jesus is our guardian redeemer. Says he's closer than a friend. He willingly chose to come over 2000 years ago to a27:15 place called Bethlehem, which is where this story takes place. And he chooses not only to be born in Bethlehem to live a great life, to heal and feed and do all of those27:26 things but instead, he offered himself up willingly to pay the price for your sins and mine so he could redeem us. And so as we talk about loss today, understand27:38 there there is a mega theme above it, That ultimately Jesus is our redeemer. He willingly said, I will take on the cross, I will die on the cross. His first words from the27:50 cross, father forgive them for they know not what they do. A little later he says, it is finished. That means the price has been paid. So here in chapter 2, what do we see?28:02 We just see Ruth out gleaning in the field. And God's working behind the scenes to be a provider, not only for her and Naomi, but ultimately for you and me as ultimately28:15 their offspring. It's part of the line and the lineage of Jesus. So let's jump into chapter 3. Notice here's the third thought, bold risk, unlock divine rewards. Man, once you've gone through the season28:27 of bitterness, start working because God moves in the field of the ordinary. Then third list, you gotta take a risk. Some boys you gotta come out of your shell and take a risk, So here it is, Ruth Ruth chapter28:39 3 verse 1. 1 day Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, right, she's beginning to bounce back, said to her my daughter, I must find a home for you. So now Naomi has stopped worrying about herself. That's part of28:51 growing through the going through and growing from the grief process. It's no longer about you. Then it turns around and becomes about somebody else. And so now Naomi, it's all been her her her her her. But now she's29:02 starting to worry about Ruth. So 1 day Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi said to her, my daughter I must find a home for you. Man, her natural air is now to care about someone else where you will be provided29:14 well for. Now Boaz, with whose woman you have women you have worked is a relative of ours. Here they are, here's this. Boaz has no idea what's about to hit him, right? He's just journeying29:26 through life, he's just going about his business and now 2 ladies conspiring against him. And he says, where you'll be provided for. Now Boaz, with whom the women she had worked is a relative of yours. Tonight, he will29:38 be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. Wash, put on perfume, get all gussied up, that's the he word Hebrew word, get dressed in your best clothes, then29:50 go down to the threshing floor, don't let him know you are there until he is finished eating and drinking. See, timing matters. Don't interrupt him too early.30:02 Let him get finished with his work and then you're gonna show up and you're gonna walk up and we're gonna set the trap. Alright? We're gonna pull him in. So here it is, verse 9.30:14 So she comes in, it's clearly dark at some point. Ruth goes to Boaz, lays at his feet and he goes who are you? And she says I am your servant Ruth. Man, I love this, Ruth has no entitlement here. She didn't30:26 walk in and say I'm your next wife, I'm the 1 you owe something to. Notice what she says, she goes, I am your servant. I might be your servant just by gleaning the fields the rest of30:38 my life, but I am your servant. There is no entitlement, I'm not expecting you to give me anything, alright. But here's what it says, and she says I am in it and then she said, spread the corner of your garment30:49 over me since you are a guardian redeemer of our family and the lord bless you. That's the biblical expectation. The lord bless you, my daughter replied. This kindness is greater31:01 than that which has been showed earlier. You have not run after younger men. What is he talking about? Her character, which were whether rich or poor. And now my daughter, don't be afraid.31:13 I will do for you as you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. So in the midst of loss,31:26 in the midst of bitterness, in the midst of a new land, in the midst of a new people, she is working hard, she is loving on someone else, and unbeknownst to her, Boaz31:38 has taken note of her noble character. So let that be an encouragement to you as you journey through your life, wherever you're headed in your road. Whatever you do as you go through the grief,31:50 do it with character. That doesn't mean it's not gonna hurt. Doesn't mean you're not gonna weep, doesn't mean there aren't gonna be those waves of grief that all of a sudden overwhelm you, but do it with a noble32:03 character. And here's number 4, you ready? Chapter 4, expecting hope always waits on God's timing, always waits on God's timing. Child of God, I will32:14 just tell you if you've been through loss and many of you are, first of all we never wanted it to happen. But then as we journey forward, we want it fixed. We want to feel better.32:27 See sometimes we just have to give ourselves time and space to go through the grieving process and those tables and dates and times that I shared earlier with you, they're different for everybody.32:40 So if you're sitting here saying, well I should've gotten over this peak, grief 6 months ago, or perhaps 6 years ago. Everybody journeys32:52 through this grief season, the seasons of loss in a different way, maybe it's your health. So what you do is you just start looking and trusting God, you go back to work, you develop that noble character, and33:03 you trust that somewhere down the road, just like Ruth and Naomi, just like Job, just like that prodigal son, just like Hannah, just like somewhere down the33:15 road God is gonna show up and bless you. But you gotta let it be his timing. Our job is just to keep putting in the work. So here it is, verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth and she33:27 became his wife. When he made love to her, they the lord enabled her to conceive and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi, remember she was bitter. Says praise be the lord who33:39 this day has not left you without a guardian redeemer. May he become famous throughout all of Israel. Boy, they had no idea. He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law33:51 who loves you, notice this or point it back to her, who loves you, who is better than 7 sons. Now that's an exaggeration, alright? Wish I wouldn't have put that in there. Has given birth.34:03 Then Naomi, listen to this, Naomi, don't call me Naomi, call me bitter. I left full, I come back empty. And all of a sudden, she gets the opportunity to grab this grandchild34:15 who she never thought she was gonna have. And knows that she has been redeemed because God's word told people we care for other, but God also showed her if you will do the right thing in the34:27 right way with the right character, God will show up and bless you. Maybe not on your timing, but on his timing. And I will promise you that. And so as you journey forward I just Man, can you imagine?34:40 For your daughter-in-law, that and the 7 sons, then Naomi took that child in her arms, cared for him. The women living there said, Naomi has a son.34:53 Chapter 1, she didn't. Chapter 4, she does. And they named him Obed, and he was the father of Jesse, who was the father of David. Child of God,35:05 if you are going through loss, if you're going through grieving, don't ever doubt God. A bitter beginning never means a bitter end.35:17 Remember God works in the fields of the ordinary. What are the ordinary things in life that you could be working in right now, that you can see God show up in a powerful35:29 way? Are you serving other people, are you loving other people, are you navigating through, are you making the right commitments, are you like Ruth, saying this is the path I'm going down?35:41 It hurts, but I'm not gonna stay still. But I'm also gonna then provide for someone else and care for someone else, even when I don't feel like it. Because35:53 remember in chapter 1, Ruth was grieving too. She had lost her people in Moab, she walked away from the gods that she knew,36:05 and she had lost her husband she loved. But by chapter 4 together, these 2 women see God show up in a powerful and a very real way. Also36:16 think about Boaz, we love the idea that he's a kinsman redeemer, but he was also a man of incredible wealth, but still followed God's word. See as a36:28 wealthy man, he could have gleaned it all. He could have taken it all, all the way to the margins, all the way to the end, but instead he loved God so much that he said, God you say leave some for the36:40 poor and the orphans and the widows. And as a result he ends up finding his future wife that will give him an heir, not just36:52 any heir, but someone whose name will be great in all of Israel. So maybe there are some Ruths and Naomi's here today that you're going through some grieving process, you're going37:03 through some loss, stay faithful. Maybe there's some Boaz's here today, that God has blessed you in some powerful and real ways. And God's simply saying who are you gonna leave some for?37:16 So they can come into your fields and they can see God's blessing and God's grace and be filled up. See I believe God is working. I've seen him work37:28 in my story through some hard seasons. I lost my dad when I was a junior at college. A couple of years ago, those who've been around here a while, you know, my brother took his life.37:40 There are times that I tell people in Dennis George a lot, I say, you know, I think my griever is broken. How many of you know what I'm talking about? I just don't grieve well. I37:51 don't, but here's what I know, God is working in your story and he's working in my story. Because some of the most powerful conversations I have these days when I sit down with a man or38:04 some young man over a cup of coffee and he's lost his father. I get it. They had a spouse or someone in their family commit suicide. I don't38:16 want to be in those conversations, but I get it because God wants to take your story and use it to bless others. Let's pray. God, thank you so much as38:28 we walk through the book of Ruth. We love the sweetness of the book, but we can't forget the sour beginning. God, as we start this, that book in chapter 1,38:40 it's real life, but so is all of your word that we truly go through and experience loss in unbelievable ways oftentimes. God, I pray right now for people in38:52 this room. They've lost a spouse, they've lost a child, they've lost a mom or a dad, they've they've lost a marriage, they've lost a career, they've lost a job, they've lost their39:03 financial security. God, I pray that they would be like Ruth. Just make a choice today, I'm gonna do the right thing surrounded by the right people, headed in the right direction. God, let us believe that you're39:15 gonna show up at the right time. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen and Amen.In this video 0:00 The Journey of Ruth: From Loss to Redemption
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