The God Who Provides

Quick recap.

Ruth 1:6 NIV

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.

God provides for the people - God is provider

Ruth 1:19 (NIV)

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

Ruth 1:20 NIV

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.

How can we stay sweet amidst the bitterness of life? How can God be good and pleasant in the mist of life’s bitterness?

Bitterness of Coffee -

Bitter -having a sharp, pungent taste or smell; not sweet. (Oxford Dictionary)

Creamer - sweet.

Can we experience both the bitterness of life and the sweetness of life?

Gen Z - allow our circumstances to define us

Example?

Ruth 1:20–21 NIV

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Bad question.

Wrong assumption: the assumption is that we are good.

None of us are good - we are all bad.

bad things happen to bad people.

Why is accusatory - it seeks to inquire about motive or reason

This puts us on the throne to then judge and decide if God’s answer is acceptable/sufficient in our own eyes.

That’s really what we want to know.

but we know God is good and gives good gifts

James 1:17 NIV

17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Matthew 7:11 NIV

11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Shift from a WHY to a HOW.

What is striking is that when Naomi said, “Call me Mara.” Even saying the name, “Mara” should have triggered her memory of the God who provides. Let me explain with an important backstory.

Several generations before the people moved into the land of Israel, they were slaves in Egypt. In the midst of their hardship and slavery, they cried out to God and God saved them. God delivered them from Pharaoh through a series of miraculous events. It was so clear and so obvious that God Himself had saved His people from Egypt and was now bringing them to the Promised Land, Israel. But three days later, not a week later, not the next month, not three years later, three days later, the people are in the desert and they are thirsty. Being thirsty in the desert is understandable, but instead of trusting that God would provide, they complained. Actually the book of Exodus, which records this story for us, says the people grumbled. That is like advanced complaining. They grumbled because they came to a location that had water, but the water was bitter, too bitter to drink, so they named that place, Marah, which means bitter.

Naomi is acting similar to her ancestors; instead of seeing all the ways in which God has provided in the past, she just sees her hardship and becomes bitter, like the waters at Marah. And like her ancestors she complained in a bitter way. But Naomi would have known the story of what happened at Marah. Here is what happens at Marah.

Exodus 15:22–24 NIV

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. Exodus 15:25 (NIV)

God miraculously provided for the people, again, even in the midst of their bitterness. God didn’t stop with the wood that makes the water better, He continued to lead them to a place called Elim and it was this wonderful spot that God had always been leading them towards:

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water. Exodus 15:27 (NIV)

Just so you don’t miss the symbolism, twelve springs, one for each tribe of Israel, is no coincidence. God is providing for each tribe so everyone has their own spring to rest by and rehydrate. When Scripture uses the term seven it speaks of completion and reminds us of the seven days of creation in Genesis chapter one which reminds us of Eden. So seven times ten is seventy, this is a place which is ten times complete. In other words, this place was awesome!

They were so focused on the bitterness of the water in Marah they didn’t realize they were almost to paradise in Elim. In response to their bitter complaining God made the water at Marah fit to drink, in the midst of their bitterness and hardship God provided.

Often it is in the midst of our hardship, our suffering, and our misfortunes that God’s provision arrives. This is how God dealt with His people in the desert, it is how God deals with us, and it is how God dealt with Naomi. She was just so bitter, she couldn’t see the provision.

The first chapter of Ruth ends with God’s provision being all around Naomi.

22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. Ruth 1:22(NIV)

I mentioned that Naomi’s theology was partially correct. She was correct that God is sovereign, but His hand wasn’t against her. His hand was providing for her in the midst of her bitterness, she just didn’t see it.

1. First, Naomi wasn’t alone. She returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth. Her daughter-in-law, who converted from the gods of Moab and left her people, her culture, and her former gods and chose to come be part of the family of God, had pledged herself to take care of Naomi. She wasn’t as empty as she claimed, Ruth was there with her, for her, and was committed to helping her.

2. Second, she just returned and was welcomed home. The people of Bethlehem could have rejected her, they could have told her that she left so she was no longer welcome, but they didn’t.

3. And as she returned, it was just as the harvest was beginning, which means the bread is back. But in her bitterness, she didn’t see how God was providing for her.

In the midst of the bitterness of things of this life, what provisions from God are we simply not seeing?

Practically, here are two ways for us to apply this message.

Intentionally look for God’s provision.

First, when we are in the bitterness of life, we must take time to intentionally look for God’s provision. This is not natural, and at times, if we are honest, we’d just rather be bitter. So to help us develop the habit of seeing God’s provision, we can focus on the daily provisions of God on a regular basis. A few months ago I was with a friend of mine who has been though a lot in life. He has had a lot of success but also a lot of heartache and hardship. He has focused on God’s simple, daily provisions. As we talked he cited, multiple times, the smallest ways in which God was providing. When you are around people like this it can be unsettling. Here we are focused on this big goal, big project, or big problem and this person is pointing out the smallest way possible God is providing. That is the perspective each of us can develop. Once you start seeing it, you’ll start to see His provision everywhere.

Intentionally provide for others in need.

Second, we can be people who bring the provisions of God to others. One of the comforting parts of the story of Ruth is how God uses people to accomplish His will and His purpose. He provides and often that provision comes through His people. There are many people in our community who are facing the bitterness of life and they are in need of provision and God invites us to be like Ruth to them.

The God I Wish You Knew The God Who Provides Ruth 1:19-22

What do you do when God’s hand seems to be against you?

When we left Ruth and Naomi we heard Ruth’s beautiful speech and her pledge to follow God and be with Naomi, no matter what. But despite Ruth’s commitment, Naomi was in a bad place. Her entire life had been turned upside down. She and her husband had gone to the land of Moab from Israel, they left God’s Promised Land in search of food and provisions and only found heartache and emptiness. In Moab her husband dies, her two sons die, and there is no one who can provide for or care for Naomi. She hears God had provided food for His people again in Israel so she started the journey back home and back to God.

Last week we saw how incredible it is that God welcomed Naomi back. But there was a little tension when we left Naomi, even though God welcomed her back, she still felt God was against her. In her “Don’t come with me” speech to her daughters-in-law she says “…the Lord’s hand has turned against me.”Many of us know that feeling. We look at our life, we look at our relationships, we look at our health, and the only thing we can assume is that God must be against us, or has forgotten us, or is either unable or unwilling to do anything about it, or perhaps most disturbing of all, He isn’t actually good.

Just because these women have turned back to God doesn’t mean all of their challenges have been solved. This story actually happened, it is not a myth or a fable, it is real and raw and I love that God didn’t hide the harsh reality these women faced because you and I face harsh realities.

I was reminded last week we don’t know if going to Moab was Naomi’s idea or not. Maybe she pushed her husband to go, nagging him so much that he relented. Or maybe she was fiercely against the idea and she went against her will. The text doesn’t say, and I think that is intentional. Often in our lives we can face challenges, either because of decisions we’ve made in the past, or because of decisions others have made which impact us, or because of circumstances outside of our control. Those don’t go away when we start to follow Jesus. Many of us can become discouraged along our journey because of the challenges we face and we wonder, “Why is this happening, why does it seem God’s hand is against me?”

In the story of Ruth, God invites us to ask this question. In the midst of this question, God reveals more of His nature and character. Open up to Ruth, chapter one and we will pick up the story where we left off at verse 19.

19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?” Ruth 1:19 (NIV)

It has been ten years or more since Naomi left Bethlehem, there was no social media to keep up to date, no visits from time to time to keep people updated on how things were going. The last time the people of Bethlehem saw Naomi she was married with two boys. But now she is back, alone, in mourning and looking so different. If you have a friend or acquaintance and they move, maybe a college roommate you haven’t seen for a decade, or a relative you don’t see often, and you see them after time has passed, it can be shocking to see how much they have aged.

I was talking with a friend the other day who told me about running into a former high school teammate of his at his 20th high school reunion. A guy went up to him and said his name, shook his hand and then, reading body language, said, “You don’t know who I am, do you?” Age can do that to us.

This is what is happening when Naomi walks back into town. But it isn’t just the years which have aged Naomi, it is life. She has held three different funerals, one for her husband, and two for her sons. She has suffered from the lack of food and has been struggling for survival. The stress, bereavement, and loneliness she was suffering took its toll and people can hardly believe it.

“Can this be Naomi?” They ask. Which is a bit of a play on words because Naomi’s name means pleasant. Can this be the pleasant woman who left so many years ago?

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Ruth 1:20 (NIV)

“Don’t call me pleasant, call me bitter.” Naomi says. I really appreciate how honest the Hebrew people are in their writings. They don’t try to be Minnesota-Nice or American-positive. They are direct and upfront. “I’m bitter. My life feels cursed by God and I’m suffering.”

One of the many reasons I believe the Bible is true and can be trusted is because of how honest it is, especially in moments like this. Think about it, if you were going to make up a religious text to try and convince people to follow a religion you wouldn’t tell this part of the story. You would edit Naomi’s speech to say something like, “God’s got this…it will all work out …it is just a season…this too shall pass…positive vibes.” Not the Bible. It is raw, honest and real, almost embarrassingly so. But I am so thankful because, how often have we had these feelings?

In fact, Naomi does what so often we do. She identifies with her situation. She says that people are to call her by a new name. Names in Hebrew culture were very important because they defined, in a sense, who someone was, so Naomi is embracing a new identity. She has now become defined by bitterness.

I remember the first time I ate something bitter. Growing up my parents had a phase where they had grapefruit for breakfast. I had enjoyed oranges and this just looked like a bigger, juicier version. So I asked for some and my mom cut me half a grapefruit and gave me the spoon with the little edges around the spoon. I took the spoon, feeling so much like an adult, and got a huge scoop of grapefruit and ate it. The reaction was immediate! I tensed up, puckered my lips and became singularly focused on the awfulness of what was in my mouth.

Bitterness of life does the same thing. We tense up, push things away from us and have a narrowing focus. We can become defined by the bitterness of our lives. Our entire sense of identity can be defined by the bitterness of our lives. This is what is happening to Naomi.

21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” Ruth 1:21 (NIV)

Naomi’s theology is partially correct. Theology is the study of the nature and character of God. She rightly acknowledges God is sovereign. The sovereignty of God is a fancy way of saying God is in control. When a nation is called a sovereign nation we mean that that nation has the freedom, independence and control to make their own decisions, to rule based on their own will. To say God is sovereign means that nothing can force, shape, limit or change God’s will.

We have a difficult time with this concept because most things in our lives have limited control.

In the United States, our government is set up in a way where there is a check and balance on power and no one person has complete authority or control. But in some forms of government a king or queen or dictator can be a sovereign without those restrictions and limitations. But even the most ruthless dictators are limited by the laws of space, time, and death.

Not so with God.

God created time but is not bound by it. God created the entire universe but is not limited to just our universe. He is not limited by time or space. Death has no claim over God, a truth He proved when Jesus was risen from the grave on Easter. So when Naomi says, The Almighty, which is a term that speaks about God’s sovereignty, has brought misfortune on me, she is right in saying that nothing that happens in our world is outside of God’s ability to control it or change it. Which begs an uncomfortable question.

Why does God allow bad things to happen?

At times we even ask a more pointed version of this question of asking, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?” But the “good people” part of this question just further adds noise to the question because all of us have sin in our lives and Jesus Himself says that no one is good except God. So let me just leave that out to focus in on the heart of the question because what we really want to know is, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to me?”

In fact, there are some of you who gave up follow God or walked away from faith because of this question. It has become for you a hurdle or a doubt you can’t get past. You, like Naomi, have become bitter towards God. Even for those of us who are followers of Jesus, we can still harbor bitterness towards God because of a job that didn’t work out, a relationship that fell apart, a loved one taken too soon, or a sickness that has brought harm to our lives.

The reason for bad things happening in our world is a deep and complex subject. The truth is that when God made this world He made it good, but we chose to walk away from Him. Like Naomi, we left the place God intended for us as humanity to live, within His Word. The first time this happened was in a place called the Garden of Eden, a story recorded for us in Genesis chapter 3, but it is a story that has been repeated by all of us. The stepping outside of God’s instruction brought sin into the world. Sin separates us from God. As humanity, we are separated from God because of sin, but each of us, personally, choses to sin, keeping that separation from God. Sin brings consequences, bad things happen in this world because of sin.

But that theological truth does little to comfort us in the midst of our own misfortunes and hardships. God could have stepped in and prevented this hardship from occurring in our life and He didn’t. Why?

The reality is, I can never adequately give you a reason why. No one can. Even if God shared with us why, His ways are so far above our ways and our understanding is so limited by time and space we could never fully comprehend. If you have ever tried to explain to a toddler why they needed a shot at the doctor, you know that the truth, goodness, and larger-picture of the situation is of no help to the toddler who only knows “I don’t want a shot!” While we don’t like thinking of ourselves in such a limited way, compared to God and His plan and His purpose, we truly aren’t able to absorb the reason why.

I’m starting to realize that no amount of why will help us break out of our own bitterness. We think if we can just find the right why, the bitterness will go away. But I believe it is the wrong question. Instead of asking, “Why?” we can ask, “How?”

How in the midst of our hardship, our trial, our loss, and our own bitterness, does God continue to provide for us? The God I wish you knew is, The God who provides. God provides for us, even in the midst of the bitterness of our life.

We often miss seeing God’s provisions because we are so frustrated with our circumstance or situation. We quickly forget all the many times God did provide, how often God did protect, or how God did produce what we hoped. But when He doesn’t, we can lose perspective. This is what is happening with Naomi.

What is striking is that when Naomi said, “Call me Mara.” Even saying the name, “Mara” should have triggered her memory of the God who provides. Let me explain with an important backstory.

Several generations before the people moved into the land of Israel, they were slaves in Egypt. In the midst of their hardship and slavery, they cried out to God and God saved them. God delivered them from Pharaoh through a series of miraculous events. It was so clear and so obvious that God Himself had saved His people from Egypt and was now bringing them to the Promised Land, Israel. But three days later, not a week later, not the next month, not three years later, three days later, the people are in the desert and they are thirsty. Being thirsty in the desert is understandable, but instead of trusting that God would provide, they complained. Actually the book of Exodus, which records this story for us, says the people grumbled. That is like advanced complaining. They grumbled because they came to a location that had water, but the water was bitter, too bitter to drink, so they named that place, Marah, which means bitter.

Naomi is acting similar to her ancestors; instead of seeing all the ways in which God has provided in the past, she just sees her hardship and becomes bitter, like the waters at Marah. And like her ancestors she complained in a bitter way. But Naomi would have known the story of what happened at Marah. Here is what happens at Marah.

Read Exodus 15:22-24