Don't be a Pork Pie Christian

Discovering the Will of God – Part 2: Sermons from the Book of Ruth

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Everyday God

Discovering the Will of God – Part 2
Ruth 2

Turn to Ruth, chapter 2. We're picking up where we left off last week in discovering the will of God for your life. Many years ago there was a farmer who really wanted to be a preacher. He wanted to be a traveling evangelist. He was just waiting for God to call him to do it, but he wanted to do it. One day after working the farm, he was lying down on the grass on his back looking up into the blue sky and watching the clouds go by, and he saw two clouds in the shape of two different letters, P and C.

For a moment he thought, "Well, there's my sign. God wants me to go and preach Christ." So he sold his farm, went out, and became a traveling evangelist. The only problem is that he couldn't preach and people weren't responding. One day he preached a horrible sermon. His neighbor came up to him after the service and said, "Are you sure those two letters didn't mean 'plant corn'?"

This is one of the areas we struggle with as believers: when it comes to discerning God's plan for our individual lives. We struggle with it. We become frustrated with it sometimes, even confused. As the story relates, and even in my own life, there are times where we become spooky. That's what we're focusing on, and we were talking about discovering the will of God.

Remember, there are different aspects. I taught these last week. I won't go into them too deeply, but we need to understand the different aspects of the will of God. First of all, there's the preceptive will of God. The preceptive will of God is what you find in the Bible. The revealed will of God; the precepts and commands you find in the Word of God. That's what we have here, and what we have to do as believers is obey them. Most of what God wants you to do in your life is found right here. The preceptive will of God.

Then there is the providential will of God, the circumstances that happen in our lives that are beyond our control. Some of them are good, some of them are bad, and some of them are very ugly, but they are a part of the providential will of God. As believers, when we encounter these circumstances, we need to make sure we respond to them in such a way that's in accordance with the preceptive will of God, that we make sure we obey the commandments of God.

Then, of course, there is the third aspect. That's what we're focusing on, and that is God's plan for individuals. This is where we struggle, because it's not clear. God doesn't just give us a clear picture in the Scriptures about what he wants us to do or what he wants us to be in the future, whether we go to this college or marry this person or take this job. It's not clear. This is why we get spooky, trying to figure out God's plan for our individual lives.

We learned two things last week. Really, you can take the book of Ruth at different angles. I like to call it the "gospel of Ruth," because the gospel is in the book of Ruth. The good news is in the book of Ruth. But we're observing it from the standpoint of how God is unfolding his plan for Ruth's life, and I believe Ruth gives us some steps we need to take when it comes to this third aspect of God's will. How do we discover God's plan for our lives?

1. It begins with a proper view of God. What we see with Ruth is a young lady who was willing to leave Moab, willing to leave her people, willing to leave her gods, and cling to the God of Israel, believing and trusting that God would provide for her. She trusted God with all of her heart. She didn't lean on her own understanding like her sister Orpah. Orpah did, and Orpah left. She went back to the greener pastures, so to speak.

She trusted God, acknowledged him. So now God is directing her paths. All this comes because she had a proper view of God. She understood God is a covenant-keeping God. He is always faithful to his covenant, which means he is always faithful to his covenant people. She could trust him without any reservation.

I think sometimes we struggle with trusting God, and we come to a point in our relationship and say, "God, I'll trust you up to this point." That only happens when you don't have a proper view of God. To get to a point where you can trust God without any reservation, you need to understand who he is, that he is a faithful and powerful God. You have to have a proper view of God.

2. You have to be faithful in what you can control. We focus primarily on verse 2. Notice what verse 2 says. "And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, 'Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.'" I love this, because here's this Moabite woman who realizes she doesn't have any control over the future.

By the way, God doesn't tell us the future. God didn't say, "Oh, Ruth, if you will come to Israel and let me become your God and Israel become your people, here's what's going to happen. You're going to get there. You're going to meet a man named Boaz and you're going to marry him. You're going to have children." He did not do that. And guess what? He doesn't do that for you either.

All she knew is that she had to wake up that day. She had a mother-in-law to take care of, and she knew there was a welfare program in Israel. The welfare program was really simple. If you were a landowner, God commanded you to not harvest all your land but leave a portion for those in need, for the widows, for the foreigners, and for the orphans. She knew that, and she knew that for that very day she needed to get up and go and work and glean.

The things she could control are really simple. The things we can control are our character and our conduct. Again, it really comes down to the preceptive will of God. These are the things you can control. I know as a husband God has called me to love my wife as Christ loved the church. That's not an option. That is God's plan for my life.

I'm a father, and it's God's plan for my life that I raise my children in the ways of the Lord, that I make sure what they're learning from me… This isn't an option. What they have to learn from my wife and me… This is God's plan for my life. I have to teach them to seek God's kingdom and his righteousness first. I need to make sure they understand that church and Christ Jesus is first place in everything we do. That's God's plan. That's God's plan for you if you're a parent.

We have to be faithful in what we can control. Put it another way, we have to be faithful in those small things. The great question is…What are you doing now? You're so focused on the future, "God, what am I going to do? Where do you want me to work? What do you want me to do?" and he says, "No, what are you doing now? Are you faithful in the small things? Are you faithful in the things you can control?"

What are the things you can control? Well, do you have a consistent walk with the Lord? Are you walking consistently with the Lord daily? God is concerned that you learn how to walk by faith, that you walk with him on a daily basis. He wants you to walk by faith. He's not going to tell you your plans all at once. He'll unfold it. But as you walk with him consistently…

Let me just say this. I do believe many believers who fell in this area, and this is where a lot of people fell, in this area of doing what they're supposed to do now… They forfeit God's best for them. Why? Because they're not faithful to what they need to be doing now. They're not obeying the preceptive will of God. I've seen believers get into marriages they should have never gotten into had they stuck with the Word of God.

What are you doing now? Are you serving God? God has given you a gift. Are you serving him right now where you can in your church? Are you a part of a local church? All of these are very important. Here's the thing. God gives opportunity as we are faithful in the small things, as we're faithful in the things we can control.

3. Be faithful in what you can control so that God will guide you in the things you can't control. You be faithful in the things you can control and trust God to guide you in the things you can't control. We see in verse 2 she gets up. She knows what she needs to do for that day. Then in verse 3 she moves forward. She's going to be faithful in what God has told her to do.

I love verse 3, because verse 3 shows you as she steps out in faith, not knowing the future… Oh, let me tell you, her future was bright. She stepped out in faith. God begins to orchestrate her steps, and we see her trusting in the providence of God. Verse 3: "So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers…"

Now this next statement is a very, very important statement in verse 3 for really understanding what God is doing in the book of Ruth. Listen to what happens. She ends up in the field after the reapers. "…and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz…" Last week we met Boaz in verse 1. He's the new character on the scene, and we're told in verse 1 that this Boaz is a man of God. He is worthy, which means he's wealthy. He has money.

It also speaks of his character, that this Boaz is a man of God. He is a man of faith. He is really God's agent of grace. He is God's heart. God's heart is being revealed through the hands of Boaz. Boaz, in essence, is a reflection of the very character of God. So what happens? She's faithful in the small things, the things she can control, and as she's being faithful in the small things, that phrase says she just happened to show up in the field of Boaz.

This statement is where I got the title for this series, Everyday God. God's activity in everyday life. That we as a church and we as believers would begin to see the providence and sovereignty of God. By the way, you want to be here next week if you can, because I'm going to talk about the providence of God and human choices, how it all works together. Chapter 3 shows us how to do that.

Here's how you would translate this statement from the Hebrew literally: "And her chance chanced upon the allotted portion of the field of Boaz." If we were to paraphrase that for something we could understand today, we would say, "By the stroke of luck, she just happened to be in the field of Boaz."

Now is the writer telling us this happened by chance? Is the writer really trying to tell us this is all about luck? No. In fact, what he's using here is what is called irony. He's trying to point out, "Don't think for a moment that this is chance. Don't think for a moment that this is luck." One scholar said he uses this irony here to scream, "Look! See the hand of God at work here."

God is at work here, and he is moving and guiding her life. As she's trusting in God and putting all her faith in God and trusting him with all of her heart, with all of her soul, with all of her mind, and she's acknowledging him in all of her ways, guess what happens? God makes her path smooth. He is leading and guiding her steps. This is not some miracle that's happening; this is God's activity in our lives every day.

Every one of us has stories of how we see the hand of God daily, don't we? It's not always in miracles. Sometimes the hand of God is for people he brings into your life, maybe for a day, maybe for a season. I heard a story the other day on the radio of a lady who had a flat tire. She was a nurse. A man pulled over and helped her change the tire.

He left, got back on the road. He went just a few miles down the road and he had a heart attack. He pulls over. He's having a heart attack, and guess what? The lady he just changed the tire for, she's driving up and recognizes his car. She's a nurse and saves his life. Was that by luck or chance? No. We would call that the providence of God.

That's what you have to do. When you are faithful in the small things, you have to trust God, and he will bring about his providential will. One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 16:9. "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." That's what's happening here. In fact, that's really the undergirding of the book of Ruth: God's hand and activity in our everyday lives as we trust in him.

You see, you have to be faithful in the things you can control so God can guide you in the things you can't control. Ruth didn't have a clue who Boaz was. In fact, Naomi didn't know about him, or was reminded about him, only after Ruth came back from being in the field of Boaz. We see the providence of God, God guiding her and leading her.

We also see the provision of God as well. Of course, we see in verse 4 that this Boaz is a man of faith. He is a man of God. Look at verse 4. "And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, 'The Lord be with you!'" Here's his statement. A man of faith. "God bless you." "Then Boaz said to his young man who was in charge of the reapers, 'Whose young woman is this?'"

Chance? Luck? No. It's the hand of God at work, the faithfulness of God at work when he sees a young Moabite woman who is faithful to do what she can do now and faithful to what she can control. As she is faithful and trusting God, God is providing for her. He's providing just the very basic needs.

Look at verse 8. "Then Boaz said to Ruth, 'Now, listen, my daughter…'" Here we see protection. "…do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn."

In other words, "I'm going to provide for you, but not only am I going to provide for you, I'm going to protect you." Remember, she is a Moabite. She is a foreigner, but she is a Moabite foreigner. We see the precious hand of God controlling and guiding her in the areas she can't control. We see his providence. We see his provision. Then, of course, we see his protection.

All of this came because God's handiwork was taking place with what we would consider behind the scenes. As she was faithful in the things she could control, God guided her in the things she couldn't. That's how God works. If you've been walking with God long enough, you see his hand. Even as new believers… When you come to Christ, I believe God specifically… When you become a new believer, he really opens up your eyes to his handiwork.

I can't tell you as a young believer the people of God he put in my life immediately. One such man who has already gone to be with the Lord… He died at 47. He would have celebrated his fiftieth birthday this year. Marty Ketcham. He put him in my life for a season for about three to five years of intense discipleship. This is the man who influenced me to go into the ministry.

This is also the man that you will see with me, that he had a passion and a love for this time of the year. He loved Christmas. I watched that man hold his baby boy one day and just start weeping over the thought that Jesus Christ was a baby. That's why I love this time of the year, because God put this man in my life and he influenced me.

You can do the same. Last night I was at one of the two Christmas parties I went to, but I got to hear an individual talk about God's providence. "I didn't set out to do these things. I was just faithful in the small things. And you know what? God just gave me these opportunities." That's how it works. Things just unfolded. God didn't give this individual his whole plan.

I can look in my life, and there are so many instances of the providence of God and God guiding me in areas I could not control. The one that comes to my mind probably most of all, where I can say, "Yes, I saw the hand of God on several occasions…" If you in the last two years have been in a night service, if I've told this story, you're going to hear it again. I think I did share it in the night service.

My first church was a country church, and there was a whole neat thing of how God got me out in Athens, Texas. I ended up in Garland, Texas. That was somewhat of my hometown. God allowed me to go and pastor a church called Lyons Road Baptist Church right off I-30 by Lake Ray Hubbard. We moved there. It was nice being close to family and everything.

Now I do remember this. One of the deacons from my church I left said… I told him I was going to my hometown, and he said, "Oh, you know, a prophet is not welcome in his hometown." Little did I know that that was prophetic, because in my second church I experienced a church split. Now let me just say I didn't get into ministry saying, "I can't wait to split my first church." That wasn't the case.

My wife and I early on in our ministry… We realized how naïve we were and still are sometimes. We thought to ourselves, "We will never split a church. We will never let that happen." That was our plan, but it wasn't God's. Within four months of getting to my second church… I followed the man who planted the church. His family was there. In fact, his son-in-law was my music minister. There were just all kinds of problems from the get-go.

I really thought it was me at first. I went home after four months and told my wife, "I think the church is going to split." This was her response: "I think you need to see a counselor." I thought she was right. I thought, "Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm not seeing these things." I really thought it was me. But three months later, God opened my wife's eyes to what was going on. She came to me and said, "You're right. The church is going to split."

We had decided, "We're not going to split a church," so we started looking for another church, somewhat difficult when you've only pastored for about three and a half years in the first place. It was a small country church. Then you get to your second church and you're sending out résumés and you haven't even been there a year. They're not touching me with a ten-foot pole. I got a few phone calls.

In fact, I got a phone call from First Baptist Stuttgart. The first question was, "Man, you haven't been there a year. Why are you leaving?" "Well, the church is going to split." "We've already been through one. We don't want to mess with you." I had another church call me from Arizona. The question was, "Do you have a problem with people working at the casinos?" I was like, "I don't know."

God wasn't doing anything. I had every intention to get out, every intention to go before it blew up, but you know what? After 14 months there, the church blew up. It split. And let me tell you, when it split, it split. This side stayed; this side left. It split on a Sunday morning. The night before, I had a feeling something was going to happen that day, because we were having a business meeting that night. I really thought it was going to happen then, but it didn't.

That Saturday night… There have only been a few times where God said, "I want you to change the message," so I changed the message. The reason I changed the message is that I was going to preach on unity. It probably wouldn't have gone over really well. When you realize what happened after the service… What happened is I did an invitation. A whole group of people came and prayed on the altar.

They went back and sat down, and I said, "God bless you. Have a great Sunday. See you tonight." A gentleman stood up from this side and said, "Hold it, hold it, hold it! This is the darkest day in the life of Lyons Road Baptist Church." He got up behind the pulpit and started reading resignations. Nine people, staff members, resigned.

Now I know what they thought. The church is going to rise up and say, "Get rid of the pastor." It didn't happen. One of my deacons, who was for me, got up and basically said, "You know what? We have all tied his hands. We told him he had to work with this staff." When he said that, one of the son-in-laws (two of the son-in-laws of the former pastor were there) stood up and started yelling at him, and he started yelling at me.

My wife was sitting next to me and he was yelling at her. I said, "You need to get out of here." She said, "I'm not leaving." I said, "You need to get out of here, because if you don't, I'm going to end up hitting him, and that won't be good for my case. You need to go." I'm serious. If somebody is attacking your wife, you want to protect her.

So that happened. For four months after that, my family went through some of the most painful times in our lives. I mean it was painful. I wouldn't wish anybody to go through it. I look back and it was one of the best times in my spiritual life. But here's what happened. Two weeks after that, I started praying, "God…" That's one of those days where you're like, "Do I need to be in ministry? Do I really want to do this?" I spent two weeks praying, "God, do I stay?"

He gave me the affirmation that "You need to stay in the ministry." When that happened, when I had that affirmation, here's what we did. My wife and I copied 200 résumés and sent them out all the way to Alaska. That's a lot of résumés, isn't it? Yeah, you can count the money. We sent them out. "God, we believe you called us to ministry. Wherever you want us to go." Guess what? You'd think out of 200 you'd get several phone calls. I didn't get any phone calls. None.

July 14, 2002, Sunday morning, God told me… Actually during the week he said, "I want you to preach the sermon you were supposed to preach the day the church split. First Peter, chapter 5. I want you to preach it." I got up and told the church, "This was the passage of Scripture I was going to preach that Sunday but God told me not to. So today I'm going to preach it."

I preached it, about how leadership and laity need to submit to one another and get along. I shared my heart. I went home that Sunday. That very day… I told Christy at lunch, "You know what? We're not getting any phone calls. God is not opening up any doors. I'm just going to go tell the church next Sunday that I'm their pastor. We're going to stick it out." It wasn't looking really good. At some point they weren't going to be able to pay the pastor.

I just said, "I'm going to be faithful. I'm going to do what God has told me to do right here. I'm going to get up and tell them I'm their pastor." Well, on that very same day in that service were two people, a husband and a wife from Purcell, Oklahoma. He was on the search committee from First Baptist Purcell, one of the 200 churches that received my résumé. They happened to be in town in Garland that particular weekend because the husband's mother was in a nursing home.

So they're there on Saturday night going, "Well, where do we want to go to church?" His wife remembered, "Don't you have a résumé from somebody in Garland?" Yeah. So they looked up the name, found the name, found my church. I remember them so vividly, because when this side is empty and the visitors are sitting on that side…"Hey, there are two visitors." I had to start telling them, "Guys, y'all can get over there. Spread out."

I remember them being there, and I remember them walking out. I was like, "Man, I didn't get their names. I didn't get anything. They didn't fill out anything." I hate that. So if you're here today, would you fill out something? That was the same day I went home and told my wife, "I'm going to be their pastor."

Well, that Monday, July 15, the chairman of this committee called. He called my wife first, and then she called and said, "Hey, you need to be expecting a call." Here's what the phone call said. "Somebody from our committee was in that church service yesterday, and as soon as he got out of the church, he called us and said, 'I found the man.'"

"Really? Why? Why does he say I'm the man?"

"Because of the message you preached."

Chance? No. I remember going through the interview process, the easiest interview process I've ever been through. I was so waiting for them… "Go ahead, ask me about the church split. Go ahead." They never asked. I said, "Hey guys, do you know our church split?"

"Oh yeah, we know your church split. Do you know ours split?"

"No. Have you heard anything bad about our church?"

"No."

"Have you gotten any phone calls?"

"No."

It was, again, God guiding us in those areas we could not control. I tried to control it. What I found very interesting is that the moment I said, "I'm going to be faithful in what I can control," God opened up the door. See, we have to be faithful in the things we can control so God can guide us in the things we can't control.

4. When you are faithful in the things you can't control, you experience the favor of God on your life and in your life. I want to show you something. Watch this. This is so awesome. Remember in verse 2 she said, "I'm going to go out into the fields so that I might find favor"? You go to verse 10, and notice what happens. "Why have I found favor in your eyes…?" Look at verse 13: "I have found favor in your eyes…" "I'm looking for favor. Now that I found it, why have I found favor? I have found favor."

Here's the key thing to understand. Why was she experiencing the favor of God? Verse 10 says, "Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, 'Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?'" "I can't believe that you are just blessing me this way. You're giving me provision. You're giving me protection. Why are you doing this?"

Verse 11: "But Boaz answered her, 'All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before.'" "You've been faithful. I've heard about it. Most of all, the Lord has seen it." He said, "The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord…"

"Everything you see happening," says Boaz, "is from the hand of God, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. You have trusted in God. You placed your faith in God, and you've been faithful in the things you could control. You have been faithful in the small things, and as you walked faithfully with God, God has seen your faithfulness and God has honored your faithfulness, and now the favor of God is upon you.

It's all God. It's God who just happened to have you show up in the field of Boaz. It's God who has provided this food." Not only has he provided her basic needs, but he has blessed her. There are abundant blessings. Really quickly, verses 14-18. It's all about God abundantly blessing her. She was satisfied. Not only was she satisfied with her basic needs, but she had leftovers.

When she goes home to Naomi, Naomi had her needs met. Not only was she satisfied with her basic needs, but she had leftovers. See, that's what happens. When you're faithful, God begins to shower his favor upon you, and that's what we see happening. Most importantly, we see eternal blessings. Look at verse 19:

"And her mother-in-law said to her, 'Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.' So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, 'The man's name with whom I worked today is Boaz.' And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, 'May he be blessed by the Lord…'"

Some of your translations make it sound like Boaz is the one who's kind, but it's the Lord whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead. The Hebrew word there is checed. It's referring not only to the Lord's kindness but his steadfast love. It's God's faithfulness, God's steadfast love for his people, that has brought this all about. All of this is by the hand of God.

More importantly, she says, "This man Boaz? He's a redeemer. He's a ga'al." We'll learn more about that. In the grand of scheme of things, as we're seeing God's plans for Ruth… By the way, Boaz is a part of God's plan for Ruth. But in the bigger grand scheme of things, Boaz and Ruth are participants in God's plan of redemption, because Boaz becomes a type of our Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I want you to listen to this statement: Faithfulness is the key that opens the doors of opportunity. You want to discover God's will for your life? Have a proper view of God that enables you to trust him with all of your heart. Be faithful in the things you can control and watch God guide you in the things you can't control. As you walk faithfully, you will experience the favor of God upon your life.

Do you know what I've found in my life? God always does more than what I could ever think or imagine. Always. To know the will of God is the greatest challenge; to do the will of God is the greatest achievement. If you're here today, know that the book of Ruth has a grander scheme, and that is the scheme of God's plan of redemption.

I know it's God's will for you to be saved. God desires for you to be saved from your sin. Each one of us has fallen short of the glory of God, and we need a savior. That Savior is Jesus Christ. It is God's will for you to repent of your sins and to place your faith in Jesus Christ. That's where God's plan begins on the individual level. It begins with you saying, "Yes, I will trust Christ."

Are you here this morning? Do you need to trust Christ? Maybe you're here this morning and you just see the providence of God leading you to become a part of our church family. You know Jesus Christ and you know you need to serve him. God's hand is leading you here today. In a moment we're going to have a time of invitation. That's a time that you can respond to what God has spoken to you. Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this truth about knowing your will and your plan for our lives. It really comes down to just being faithful, because faithfulness is the key that opens the doors of opportunity. God, remind us of that as your children. For that person who's here today, that man, that woman, that child who doesn't know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, God, you led them here today.

Sure, they made a choice, but they're here because you have a plan. You wanted them to hear the good news today. I pray that they will step forward and say yes to Jesus today. For that person who knows God has called them to be a part of our church family, let them move forward and say, "Yes, we want to be a part of First Southern." Have your way, God. Have your way. In Jesus' name, amen.

Keep Your Hope Up!

Discovering the Will of God-Part 1: Sermons from the Book of Ruth

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: Ruth

Discovering the Will of God – Part 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Really?"

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

"No, thank you."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Well, what are you doing now?"

"Nothing."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dream Again: Sermons from the Book of Ruth

Dr. Patrick Mead

Series: The Book of Ruth

To Dream Again
Ruth 1:6-22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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