Sermon 4: From Pleasant To Bitter Series

Sermon 4: From Pleasant to Bitter

Series: Ruth

Chuck Sligh

July 7, 2019

[PROP: Find a pebble for object lesson in point III. Make sure it’s big enough for all to see.]

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

TEXT: Ruth 1:19-22 – “So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred because of them, and they said, ‘Is this Naomi?” 20 And she said unto them, ‘Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?’ 22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.”

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

INTRODUCTION

Illus. – I had an aunt whose husband died when they were in their late 50s. They had been looking forward to retiring in a few more years. But after he died, she discovered that he had left her in a terrible financial state. He never had been a good money handler, but because he handled all the finances for the family, the extent of his malfeasance only became apparent after his death.

She became furious with him for leaving her in a condition that made her have to work later in life and not be able to retire when she had planned. She had years of loans he had made without her knowledge she had to pay off. He had medical insurance, but there were thousands of dollars not covered by his insurance because he had made a foolish choice in the insurance he chose.

This anger at my uncle turned into a seething resentment, which in time turned into bitterness—first against HIM, and later against GOD. I heard her say several times, “Why did God do this to me? It’s not fair.” Sadly, her bitterness toward her husband and God influenced her relationships. She had become a not happy person to be around anymore!

My aunt, who has since passed away, was an illustration of the danger of doing what Naomi does in our story—blaming our circumstances on God and becoming bitter against Him. Notice three things from our text:

I. FIRST NOTE THAT GOD HAD ALLOWED SOME BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN IN NAOMI’S LIFE.

Earlier in Ruth 1, we learned that Naomi’s husband died, and then her two sons died. A woman without a man to support and protect her was in a precarious position in that day, especially being in a foreign land, far away from relatives. So, we see that God allowed some deep trials in Ruth’s life.

Why does God allow trials in our lives?—I can think of four reasons.

First are what I would call “consequential trials,” that is, those that are the harvest of our own actions.

Paul said in Galatians 6:7 – “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”

Trials of this nature are not necessarily God’s direct judgment or special hand on a person. It’s simply that life’s decisions have consequences based on certain moral laws God has set in place. This is the predominant theme of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs says over and over again: Act in good and godly ways and certain rewards and blessings are the outcome of that lifestyle, and vice versa: if you act in unrighteous and unwise ways, there are certain consequences that can be expected.

• For instance, if you are sexually immoral, you will have at least a guilty conscience, you may damage or destroy your marriage and you may event contract a sexually transmitted disease.

• If you go deep into debt and do not save for a rainy day, you may find yourself in a deep financial crisis.

• Teens, if you’re promiscuous before marriage, you may find yourself facing a teenage pregnancy

These kinds of things are not God’s fault or directs action on His part. If we make wrong choices, we’ll experience the natural consequences of those choices. We can hardly place the blame for these things at God’s feet since we are the authors of our own autobiographies.

Second, are trials that I would call “corrective trials,” that is, trials God allows as discipline to correct a sin or wrong habit in our lives.