1Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ¡§My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. 2Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.¡¨ 5She said to her, ¡§All that you tell me I will do.¡¨ Ruth 3:1-5 (NRSVA)
13So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. 14Then the women said to Naomi, ¡§Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in Israel! 15He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.¡¨ 16Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her bosom, and became his nurse. 17The women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, ¡§A son has been born to Naomi.¡¨ They named him Obed; he became the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Ruth 4:13-17 (NRSVA)
8Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9¡§Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.¡¨ 10So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, ¡§Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.¡¨ 11As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ¡§Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.¡¨ 12But she said, ¡§As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.¡¨ 13Elijah said to her, ¡§Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14For thus says the LORD the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.¡¨ 15She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.
1 Kings 17:8-16 (NRSVA)
I sometimes have trouble trusting God. I don¡¦t mean the big things, like where I will go when I die. I mean the practical everyday things. I have trouble waiting for God to do things. Typically I have to grab back onto whatever I prayed for God to take care of in my life. I give it to him; I take it back!
When my kids were in their teens I would pray for them every day. But, even in the times when I knew I should take my hands off and let them make a mistake or two ¡V the kind that would really teach them something without hurting too much ¡V I would still hover over them like a mother hen with chicks. Sometimes in the midst of a tough ministry assignment I would pray for God to come through. Then I would scratch and claw my way through to another big mistake!
I have trouble trusting God! It was that way when I was 9 at my Grandma¡¦s funeral. I prayed, I pleaded; I yelled at God through the tears. I asked for some relief, and it didn¡¦t seem to come; so I decided my way was better than God¡¦s.
You too?
Are you in a hurry sometimes just like me? Do you have trouble trusting God? You want that job ¡V please, dear God, let me have that promotion. And then the other guy gets the promotion and you¡¦re ticked. The next time a promotion comes up you¡¦ll do it differently, invite the boss to dinner¡Kcreate a little shortcut here and there.
You want that mate ¡V oh man, she¡¦s just so fine! She¡¦s not a believer, but man, Lord, you understand. I know she¡¦ll change if only I can get her to marry me.
God, I would like to be in that circle of friends; they¡¦re just too cool. Yeah, I know that thing about the way they don¡¦t think worship is important¡K.I know I¡¦d miss coming to church, but, sometimes you gotta fit in. They can do a lot for me.
We are not alone, are we? You and I (and everybody else in the human family) have made some mistakes in our lives, haven¡¦t we? Have you seen the inside of the woodshed as many times as I have? It¡¦s hard to sit down sometimes, isn¡¦t it?
The Bible Has Some Wise Counsel for people like us!
We have two texts before the house today. In both of them we find people trusting God for His best¡Kthrough the worst of times. That trust comes in a single word, ¡§obedience¡¨. Let¡¦s see what wise counsel there is in obeying, or trusting God.
In the account of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath we find Elijah being obedient to go where God told him to go. He followed instructions and it led him to the poor widow who, along with her son was about to starve to death. As you read the text you find that Elijah told the widow to do some tasks ¡V she obeyed, trusted that the man of God was honest. The little family, along with the prophet, was sustained through a long drought. Even though the son got sick and died, God brought him back to life because the widow wouldn¡¦t give up on her faith, and neither would Elijah.
In the account of Ruth and Naomi, it is almost an identical story. In hard times, without resources, Naomi instructed Ruth to follow God¡¦s plan of relying on the ¡§kinsman redeemer¡¨. In those days women had no particular personal rights. If her husband died (which was the case for both Ruth and Naomi), the next closest relative was the kin who would provide for the widow. Naomi told Ruth to keep an eye on Boaz and trust to do things God¡¦s way. Ruth followed all the directions and submitted her life to Boaz¡¦ care.
It was the same for Ruth and Naomi as it was for the widow of Zarephath ¡V submit to God¡¦s care through God¡¦s way. In both cases God honored their obedience, and they were each blessed. In short, through some of the worst circumstances you can imagine, with all the odds against them, God provided, and their lives were turned around. They honored God, and God returned the honor and gave them more than they thought possible.
How can YOU be like that?
There is a passage of Scripture that speaks to how we can follow in the pathway of Ruth, Naomi and the widow of Zarephath:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NRSVA)
Let me give you three challenges or decisions that you can turn on your life that will point you in this direction of trusting God.
#1. Decide to Do Your Best
Submit to God¡¦s Way in Everything
Trust the Lord with ALL your Heart
That¡¦s not easy! But it is the only way that God does business! Coming into the Kingdom, or the ¡§Forever Family¡¨ is like that. You don¡¦t come in on the basis of YOUR choice or YOUR qualifications, or anything you can do for God. His one requirement for forgiveness and entry into His family is that you submit.
Submission is not very popular these days. Everybody wants choices; everybody wants to be in charge of their destiny. The reality is that you ARE indeed in charge of it ¡V God has given you the decision to make, but if you¡¦re going to go with God, the decision is to submit. If you don¡¦t want to go with Him, then you can mess it up all by yourself. I¡¦ve done that ¡V it¡¦s no picnic, not a pretty sight. Submission to God is a little thing when it means He takes that one act of obedience and gives you eternal life and joy and peace in return!
#2. Decide You Will Not Turn Back
Ruth did that (3:5 All that you tell me I will do). The idea of not turning back is important. And oh my, how it is tempting to turn back when you don¡¦t understand what is going on. But that is the nature of faith in God ¡V it acts whether there is understanding or not. It trusts in the face of utter disaster.
The widow of Zarephath didn¡¦t understand God¡¦s ways ¡V she simply trusted. Ruth wasn¡¦t even a Jew, but she trusted Jehovah, the God of her mother-in-law.
You have heard me speak of my Philippino pastor-friend Rev. Paquito ¡§Packs¡¨ Padilla. He is my Zarephath-hero this week. He has been married for only a few years to Joelyn Grace; and last year we sent frilly little dresses for Flint, their beautiful little girl. For all the time I¡¦ve known Packs he has pastored a small church which is also poor ¡V too poor to support him. So he held a job as a high school teacher in a town many miles from his family. Each week he would travel, stay there all week and then come home on the weekend to see his family and preach at his church.
Packs became convinced that it wasn¡¦t God¡¦s way for a husband and wife to be separated that way; rather he should be with his family, even though the poverty might mean they would starve like the widow of Zarephath and her son. Even so, with no understanding of how or from where the income to survive would come, Packs resigned and came home. This past week I got an email from my faith-filled friend; he shared that he has started teaching at a Bible College near his home. He honored God¡¦s way ¡V decided not to turn back ¡V and God showed up to provide.
#3. Decide to Enjoy the Ride Towards the Kingdom
Consider the widows:
„Ñ The widow of Zarephath ¡V this woman was on the verge of starvation and was resigned to it. In the face of the awful fate that was knocking on her door, she decided to trust God. She lived through one of the worst periods of Israel¡¦s history. Even when her son died, the prophet¡¦s prayer was answered by this God she trusted, and she got him back! Now, do you suppose she kept quiet about this? I can imagine the scene¡Kher son had died, the woman is weeping and preparing for the mourners to come. Elijah comes down the stairs carrying her revived son. She hears, and then through burning tears she lifts her eyes to behold the boy ¡V ALIVE! She cries out in joy to her best friends who have just shown up to help her mourn ¡V ¡§Mehitobel, Chloe, Zelda Mae get over here ¡V Look ¡V my boy¡¦s alive! That woman probably told that story to anyone who would listen until the day she died.
„Ñ Consider Ruth ¡V Obedient in the roughest times, she follows God¡¦s way and winds up with a husband, children and living her life out in joy.
„Ñ Consider Naomi ¡V She had left Israel years before to go to Moab with a husband and two sons; she returned from Moab, husband and sons in the grave ¡V she is now a refugee with an immigrant daughter-in-law and not two pennies to rub together. She even told the folks who once knew her, ¡§Don¡¦t call me Naomi¡KGod has changed me into Mara ¡V bitter. That¡¦s my new name.¡¨ Yet, Naomi still follows Jehovah. She directs Ruth to follow God¡¦s plan for the kinsman redeemer, and she winds up with a bouncing baby boy grandson on her knee. And that boy was named Obed, the father of Jesse, who was the father of David, a great ancestor of another king¡KJesus!
Can You Imagine?
What if we were like that? What if you and I began to trust God like that? What if we decided to do our best and trust all the circumstances to God¡Kand we were not going to turn back, no matter what? And what if we decided to enjoy this ride?
It is my belief that the God who blessed Elijah, the widow and her son, Naomi and Ruth is still the God of honoring those who bless Him. I believe there would be so many blessings show up in this church family¡¦s life that when we come to the time of praises and prayer requests in our service, we¡¦d never get past that! Each week the service would get to the time of sharing God¡¦s blessings, and we¡¦d be so full of praise, there would hardly be need for a sermon!
Decide to trust Him with everything.
Decide to never turn back.
Decide to enjoy the ride.
Wise counsel, eh?
