When Everything Falls Apart Series

When Everything Falls Apart

Text: Ruth 1:1-5

Introduction

1. “We pray when there’s nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.” (Oswald Chambers)

2. The Bible is full of stories where people assumed God needed their help, so they went and made terrible mistakes that messed everything up.

3. The story of Ruth begins with another one of those stories, but fortunately, this story ends with grace.

4. Read Ruth 1:1-5

Transition: Here’s an example of what happens…

I. When We Run from God

A. The Book of Ruth is a story of God’s care and provision for His people. It begins with, “In the days when the judges ruled in Israel, a severe famine came upon the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah left his home and went to live in the country of Moab, taking his wife and two sons with him.”

1. From this verse we learn that this story takes place during the time of the judges.

2. If you’ve never read the book of Judges I highly recommend it.

3. It tells how the people of Israel turned away from God, and as result, they are oppressed by the nations around them. Then they would cry out to God and God would send a judge to deliver them. But then they would turn away from God again and the whole circle starts all over.

4. This verse starts out centering on a severe famine had fallen upon the land of Judah, probably as an act of judgement by God.

5. It also talks about a man who, in order to get away from the famine, moves his family to Moab including his wife and two sons.

6. The problem is nowhere in this verse does the man from Judah ask God if he should move to Moab. So, rather than turning to God for answers, he moves his family to a land filled with false god’s.

7. When we turn to the world before we turn to God we are asking for trouble.

B. We learn a little more about the family in v. 2 which says, “The man’s name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi. Their two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. And when they reached Moab, they settled there.”

1. Names mean a lot in Scripture, especially in the OT.

2. The man’s name is Elimelech, which means “my God is king.” However, it’s ironic that his faith doesn’t match his name, because instead of trusting God for his provision, he leaves the land of milk and honey, moves his family to a foreign land that doesn’t serve Yahweh.

3. His wife, who becomes one of the main characters in the book, is named Naomi, which means “to be pleasant.”

4. It seems she had no say in the move to Moab, but she is the one who will feel the pain of the results.

5. We will see this a little later when she changes her name to mean something else.

C. Things quickly take a turn for the worse for Naomi. In vv. 3-5 we read, “Then Elimelech died, and Naomi was left with her two sons. 4 The two sons married Moabite women. One married a woman named Orpah, and the other a woman named Ruth. But about ten years later, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion died. This left Naomi alone, without her two sons or her husband.”

1. Her Elimelech dies and leaves Naomi alone with her two sons.

2. She loses her husband, but she still has her two sons, and therefore, still has some hope for the future.

3. Things look a little brighter for Naomi as her two sons find wives in Moab, and she looks forward to being a grandmother and seeing her family line continue.

4. But then, ten years later, both of her sons die, and she is left without a husband or her sons.

5. She has suffered emotional loss of her family, but also financial loss since it was extremely difficult in this society for women to make a living without a husband or sons, she faces financial ruin, and her hope for the future is gone.

6. But God always has a plan!

Transition: Now let’s take a look at…

II. What We Learn About Being Out of God’s Will

A. When life gets hard, it’s wise to ask: “God, are you trying to get my attention?” Not every hardship is a punishment, but every hardship is a classroom.

1. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4).