Gary Smalley tells the story of two moose hunters in northern Canada, who shot an unusually large moose. The two hunters had a problem, however. They couldn't pack this trophy animal out of the woods; it was just too big for their packhorses. But they had a solution. Using a cell phone, they called in a tiny seaplane. When the pilot heard about the huge bull moose, he wasn’t too sure about taking it out. He told the hunters, “I don't know if I can take off with that much weight.”
“We've done this before,” they reassured him. “Don't worry.”
So they strapped the moose in, draping it across both pontoons. But again the pilot begged off. “Look how far we are sinking below the waterline,” he objected. “I'm the pilot. I know how much it takes to lift off.”
“Relax,” the hunters persisted. “We've done this before. Trust us.”
Finally the pilot agreed. He gunned the engine, took off down his runway of water… and crashed into the treetops at the end of the lake. Debris flew everywhere, and the moose carcass lodged in the branches of a tall pine tree.
Down on the shoreline, one dazed hunter called out to the other, “Hey, George! How did we do?”
“Well,” George replied, “we're about 50 feet farther than last year.” (E. Glenn Wagner, The Church You've Always Wanted, Zondervan, 2002)
My friends, when we fail, we don’t have to keep on failing. Failure is never a permanent condition for the believer. The fact is we can learn from our failures and use them as steppingstones to great blessing.
The question is: How? How do we recover from failure and turn it into a steppingstone towards victory? Well, there is a story in the Old Testament that shows us how. It is a love story that begins with failure, but the end is far greater than anyone could have ever imagined. It is the story of Ruth, and if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to that little book in the Old Testament, the book of Ruth, Ruth 1,
Ruth 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. (ESV)
These were terrible times for the nation of Israel. They were difficult days. They were the days of the judges when Israel was caught in a vicious cycle of disobedience, defeat and deliverance, disobedience, defeat and deliverance, disobedience, defeat and deliverance. Everybody did what was right in their own eyes, and the nation was in a moral mess.
So God sent a famine, as he often did, to get their attention. He also allowed terrorists to attack their land, but none of it seemed to do much good. The nation kept getting worse and worse.
That’s when a man decided to take his family and leave. They departed from their home, choosing to leave God’s land and God’s people. They were running away from trouble. But more than that, they were running away from the Lord.
They left Bethlehem – the house of bread. They left Judah – the place of praise, and they went to live in Moab – a place that God once described as his washbowl (Psalm 108:9). They left the house of bread and praise for a garbage can, and that’s what usually happens when people try to run away from their problems.
Some people actually move to a new location, thinking it will help, but they end up only taking their problems with them. Others try to escape through alcohol, drugs, or pornography, and some just bury themselves in their work, but the problems are still there. In fact, such attempts at escape only make the problems worse. That’s what happened to the man in our story when he, his wife, and two sons tried to escape to Moab.
Ruth 1:2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. (ESV)
They had intended to stay there only a short while, but they ended up living there. The late Adrian Rogers once said, “Sin will always take you further than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay, and it will cost you more than you want to pay.” Here, their faithless act kept them longer than they wanted to stay.
Ruth 1:3-4a But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth.
Sin not only kept them longer than they wanted to stay, it took them further than they wanted to go. The two boys married unbelievers, foreign women who knew nothing of Israel’s God. They violated the clear command of God not to do so.
Their departure from God led to further disobedience, and their disobedience led to death.
Ruth 1:4b-5 They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. (ESV)
Sin cost them more than they wanted to pay. Romans 3:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” James 1:15 says, “After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
The cuckoo bird is a strange bird. Did you know the cuckoo never builds its own nest? When it feels an egg coming on, it finds another nest with eggs and no parent bird around. Then it lands on that nest, quickly lays its egg, and takes off again.
The thrush, whose nest has now been invaded, comes back, circles her nest, and comes in for a landing. She is not very good at arithmetic, so she doesn’t notice that there is one more egg. She sits on the eggs; and eventually, four little thrushes and one large cuckoo bird hatch. The cuckoo is 2 or 3 times the size of the thrushes.
Then Mrs. Thrush, having hatched five little birds, goes off early in the morning to get the worm. She comes back, circles the nest to see four petite thrush mouths and one large cuckoo mouth. Who gets the worm? The cuckoo, of course.
Eventually, the cuckoo gets bigger and bigger, and the little thrushes get smaller and smaller. After a while, the cuckoo begins to throw out the thrushes one at a time, and before you know it, the ground is littered with little dead thrushes. (Stuart Briscoe, “Christmas 365 Days a Year,” Preaching Today, Tape 135)
That’s what happens to sin when it comes to nest in your life. When you feed it, when you entertain it, when you allow it to grow, it only leads to death and destruction.
Moms and Dads, think about that before you entertain thoughts of indulging sin in your life. Think about what it will do, not only to yourself, but to your family as well. Elimelech led his family away from the Lord into disobedience and death. Please, don’t let that happen to you and your family. Whatever you do, in the midst of your distress, please…
DON’T LEAVE THE LORD.
Don’t give up on God. Don’t run away and make things worse.
But if you have already done that, if you have already made a royal mess of things, then…
COME BACK TO THE LORD.
Return to the Lord, and oet him make things right again.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, you don’t need to continue to live in defeat. Just get up from the place of your failure. Get up from your sin. Get up from your despair and come back to God. That’s what Naomi did.
Ruth 1:6-7 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 had visited his people and given them food. 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. (ESV)
They are returning to the Lord. They are returning to His land, and they are returning to His people. And that’s you need to do when you fail – Just return to the Lord.
But before you do, consider the cost. Understand what coming back to the Lord involves. Naomi knows the cost, but she wants her daughters-in-law to understand the cost, as well. Look at what she says to them in verse 8
Ruth 1:8-9a 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!” (ESV)
She is saying, “You are more likely to find new husbands and a life of ease in your own land.”
Ruth 1:9b-10 Then 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.” (ESV)
They still want to return with Naomi.
Ruth 1:11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? (ESV)
Naomi wants to make sure they understand the terrible cost of returning with her. They won’t be able to find husbands in Israel, and she is too old to provide them with anymore.
Ruth 1:12-13 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? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” (ESV)
I return as a poor widow; and if you return with me, you will be poor widows the rest of your lives. You can have a life of ease back in Moab, but life with me will be hard.
Naomi wants to make sure they understand the cost, and you must understand the cost, as well. Jesus never promised us a life of ease. In fact, He promised us just the opposite. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Following Jesus means bearing a cross. It means suffering and hardship. So count the cost and consider the risk before you pursue Him.
Schutt Sports, a major supplier of football helmets for the National Football League, issues the following warning label on all their helmets and on their website:
WARNING … NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PREVENT CONCUSSIONS OR ELIMINATE THE RISK OF SERIOUS HEAD OR NECK INJURIES WHILE PLAYING FOOTBALL.
The warning label continues with information about the concussions and concludes by repeating the original warning: “NO HELMET SYSTEM CAN PROTECT YOU FROM SERIOUS BRAIN AND/OR NECK INJURIES INCLUDING PARALYSIS OR DEATH. TO AVOID THESE RISKS, DO NOT ENGAGE IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL.”
A visitor to the website can't access any content until he or she checks a box under the words: “Please indicate that you have read and understand the message.” (www.schuttsports.com/ football/varsity/helmets.html?p=15)
Jesus would say the same thing: “TO AVOID THE RISKS OF DISCIPLESHIP, DO NOT ENGAGE IN FOLLOWING ME.” So count the cost if you want to come back to the Lord.
Then make the commitment. Turn your back on the past and determine to stay with Him no matter what. That’s what Ruth does.
Ruth 1:14-17 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 has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 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.” (ESV)
Do you know what Ruth is doing here? She is making a clean break with the past. She is burning her bridges behind her, and she is committing herself fully to Naomi’s God.
Ruth 1:18 And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. (ESV)
There is nothing more to say. Ruth has made up her mind. She has counted the cost and made her commitment.
When Texas pastor Jim Denison was in college, he served as a summer missionary in East Malaysia. While there he attended a small church. At one of the church's worship services, a teenage girl came forward to announce her decision to follow Christ and be baptized.
During the service, Denison noticed some worn-out luggage leaning against the wall of the church building. He asked the pastor about it. The pastor pointed to the girl who had just been baptized and told Denison, “Her father said that if she was baptized as a Christian she could never go home again. So she brought her luggage.” (Raymond McHenry, Stories for the Soul, Hendrickson, 2001), p. 48; www.PreachingToday.com)
She had counted the cost and made the commitment to follow Jesus. There was no turning back. You do the same. Count the cost. Make the Commitment.
Then find victory in the place of defeat. Find joy in the midst of pain. Find hope in the midst of despair. That’s what Ruth and Naomi found.
Ruth 1:19-22 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 [which means pleasant or delightful]? She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara [or bitter], for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” 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 [in March or April]. (ESV)
Naomi thought she was returning empty handed, but she had Ruth, and it was spring! There are good things coming – things far greater than they could have ever thought or dreamed.
That’s the way it is for those who return to God. That’s the way it is for all who count the cost and make the commitment. You find hope for the future. You find a good and gracious God, who wants to bless you beyond your wildest dreams.
As a 15-year-old girl in 1927, Lois Secrist promised God she'd go overseas as a missionary, perhaps to Africa or India, helping the needy. But Lois never made it.
At 23 she married Galon Prater, a handsome farmhand who became a heavy drinker.
Many years later, Galon finally became a Christian and witnessed to his drinking buddies. But by then he was almost 80 and nearing death. When he died on January 9, 1988, Lois's childhood dream of becoming a missionary returned.
At first she resisted. At her age, she told the Lord, “Lord, I'm too old to go now. I can't do this.” But this great grandmother couldn’t ignore God’s call again.
So at 87, Lois Prater became the unlikely builder of an orphanage in the Philippines, a lifeline to 35 children, whose lives had been rescued from neglect, begging in the streets, and parental abuse.
Those 35 orphans, living in a two-story, 2,000 square foot white stucco home, called Lois “Lola,” which means “grandmother” in their native Tagalog language.
Lois built the orphanage without taking out a loan. Instead, she raised the money from people all across the United States. She also depended on individuals for her own personal support, because mission agencies considered her too old for their ministries.
When asked if that made her nervous, she confidently said, “I serve a mighty God. He's in control. I feel I'm not talented enough to do any of this. But God enables me. My responsibility is to do what I can.” (Gail Wood, “Mission Delayed,” Virtue June/July 1999)
No matter how long you’ve been away, and no matter what you’ve done, come home to the Lord. He still wants to bless you and use you for His glory.
