GOD’S PRESENCE
Ruth 1:1-22
It is hard to see that God is working in our lives sometimes. In fact it seems sometimes as if God is not there at all. How could God allow bad things to happen to good people? How is it that evil people seem to prosper? The devil is a master at focusing us on the negative and causes us to even doubt that God cares; but I want to assure you that God provides and cares for us even when we don’t know it. See, often times God is growing us and teaching us through difficult circumstances.
Just A Thought
What difficult situation is God using in your life to grow you? Do you feel like God has abandoned you?
Ruth 1:1-5
Elimelech died and Naomi was left, she and her two sons. The sons took Moabite wives; the name of the first was Orpah, the second Ruth. They lived there in Moab for the next ten years. But then the two brothers, Mahlon and Kilion, died. Now the woman was left without either her young men or her husband.
The book of Ruth takes place during the days of the judges. These were dark days for the Nation of Israel. Everyone did their own thing. Everyone decided what was right and what was wrong.
Judges 21:25
Because of this we find an on-going cycle of sin, divine judgment, petitioning God for help, divine deliverance, and then a return to more sin. This is the time in which our story takes place.
Elimelech moved his family from Bethlehem to Moab because of a famine. While there, Elimelech died; but his family continued to stay in Moab. His two sons Mahlon and Chilion got married to women from Moab. After about 10 years the two sons died and only three women were left: Elimelech’s wife, Naomi; Mahlon’s wife, Orpah; and Chilion’s wife, Ruth. Now Mahlon and Chilion had not done wrong by marrying Moabites because God did not forbid the marrying of Israelites to Moabites; but Moabites were not allowed to enter into the assembly of the lord until the 10th generation.
These women now faced a serious problem. In this era of time, women without husbands, (especially young widows) did not have much hope. In those days, it was very important that women were married and had children. If they were widows or could not have children they were considered to be cursed by God. To make matters worse for Orpah and Ruth, tradition would have it that if your husband died you were to marry their nearest of kin. Usually the dead husband’s brother would take his brother’s wife to be his wife; but Naomi had no more sons.
At a time when it seemed that they were all cursed by God and He was no where around, each of these three women had to make a decision. There comes certain times in life when although we would like to procrastinate on making a decision, that we must make that decision now. Many times the results of our decisions follow us for the rest of our lives and we will find that the decisions made by these three women had huge affects upon their lives.
What is very interesting about these three different decisions made by Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth is that these same three decisions are the same options that we have to choose from when we are faced with a decision today.
I want us to notice these three options and then ask yourself which option you tend to use when you have to make difficult decisions.
Ruth 1:6-22
Option #1: Give Up
On the surface, Naomi seems to be a very unselfish and caring person because she gave her daughter-in-laws a way out; or did she? One must read the entire chapter to see that Naomi was experiencing what we call in year 2003, clinical depression. The only reason she was going back to Bethlehem was because the famine that God had placed upon Bethlehem due to their disobedience had been lifted and there was now food available. Apparently, Naomi could have gone back to Bethlehem after her husband died, but she stayed with her sons and daughter-in-laws. She let them take care of her. I can just imagine that they had to often hear how unfair God had been to her for taking her husband. Now that her sons had died, she felt like there was not anyone, including God, who cared about her even a little. Her plan was to go back to Bethlehem alone and just finish her life out as quickly as possible. She had given up.
Although, I’m sure Naomi did love her daughter-in-laws; she was so focused on how sorry and terrible her life was that she didn’t even consider the fact that not only was she telling her daughter-in-laws to go back to their homes and maybe find a husband, but worse she was telling them to go back to their old gods and forsake Jehovah God. Instead of her leading her family to God she was telling them to give up on God and do something else.
Look back at verses 19-21. Naomi’s old friends remembered her and were excited to see her. Instead of Naomi running up to them and having a wonderful time of reunion, she immediately lets them know how unfairly God has treated her. She told them to not call her Naomi which meant “pleasant”. She asked them to call her Mara, which means “bitter”. See, Naomi was bitter and angry at God. What had she done to deserve this? She lost her husband and sons. She had no hope, no future, etc… She wanted to be left alone so she could continue being mad at God.
Just A Thought
Have you ever got to this point? You just don’t care anymore. You just want to stay at home, pull the covers over your head, and wallow in your misery. Is this you? Are you still at this point in your life or have you allowed Christ to lift you up? If you feel like you cannot be lifted up, it is o.k. to let someone know so that they can pray for you and encourage you as God becomes more evident in your life. God is still there. He has not left you and He won’t.
Option #2: Give In
Naomi had given up and her negative attitude was pretty obvious. Some people have the personality of Orpah. Orpah knew that staying with Naomi was the right thing, but she just didn’t want to argue with her about it. After all she tried to stand her ground and stay with Naomi, but Naomi was persistent enough that maybe she was right. Most of the time, the right decision is harder to stick with than the wrong decision and what Orpah simply did was give in.
The devil is a master at getting us to give in. The way he does this is he convinces us that doing it his way, (which is always opposite of God’s way) is easier and is the path of least resistance. Just as Orpah gave in and went back to her old ways, it is very easy for us to give in to the wrong things and fall back into our old ways before we were saved.
Just A Thought
Have you ever just given in instead of doing the right thing because it was easier and it didn’t create problems? Did you end up regretting that decision?
Option #3: Give All
It is easy to give up, it is just as easy to give in, but it is difficult to give it your all. Ruth would not allow Naomi to change her mind because she knew that she was not to abandon her mother-in-law even if it meant that she ended up being single the rest of her life. As Ruth traveled with Naomi, she had no thoughts of finding a husband or how this could benefit her. She was simply concerned for Naomi. We must notice verses 16 and 17.
Talk about commitment. Not only was Ruth remaining committed and faithful to Naomi, but she was also remaining faithful to Jehovah God. Ruth was not trading gods or giving up on Jehovah God just because life had seemed to deal her a bad hand.
It is so easy for us to get mad at God and start jumping to conclusions. Let’s look at some advice from Scripture of how to deal with life when it seems like God is not there.
1. Don’t Jump To Conclusions
1 Peter 4:12-13
Just because life is difficult doesn’t mean God is gone. Don’t jump to conclusions. There are two different reasons that we go through storms in life.
Sometimes we go through storms because of disobedience. Jonah had to through a storm because he would not obey God. The Bible tells us that God disciplines those whom He loves. Not all storms are because of disobedience, some are because of obedience.
Sometimes we go through storms to grow stronger in our faith. For example, when Jesus sent the Twelve Disciples out on a boat and He stayed on the shore. While the twelve were alone, the storm began to rage and the disciples were scares. As Jesus came walking across the water some of the disciples thought He was a ghost; but Peter recognized that it was Jesus and asked if he could get out of the boat and come to Him. Jesus told him to come and so Peter began to actually walk on water; but all of a sudden because the waves began to hit Peter, he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. See, God allowed this storm to happen so that the disciples would grow stronger in their faith.
Just A Thought
List a time when you went through a storm because of disobedience. List a time when you went through a storm because of obedience so that God could grow you. How did you handle your storm of disobedience? How did you handle your storm of obedience? If we are going to live in trust we must not jump to conclusions and…
2. Don’t Give It A Second Thought
1 Peter 4:14-16
If you are going through storms in your life because of disobedience then you deserve your punishment but if you are suffering for being an obedient believer then don’t give it a second thought. We ought to be proud of being called a Christian. When we are identified as a believer in Christ it is such an honor.
We must allow Satan to cause us to focus on how bad things are because we then start having second thoughts. Focus on all of the blessings that God has given you. With God you are going to be successful. Let Him lead and trust Him.
If we are going to live in trust we must not jump to conclusions, not give it a second thought, and…
3. Don’t Doubt What God Is Doing
1 Peter 4:17-19
The devil is a master of creating doubt, but believers should never doubt God. God has a plan for you and if He is powerful enough to save you from eternal destruction, He is powerful and wise enough to know what is best for you.
Do you trust God completely? It is easy to say you trust Him, but you prove your trust by obedience. How obedient to God have you been?
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
Series: God Is On The Job (Study In Ruth) #1
April 9, 2003
Bel Aire Baptist Church
Pastor Shawn Drake
