When Trials Come (English)

(Fill in the Blanks - App) Good morning, church. Im really excited because today we begin a new series based on the book of Ruth, which we have titled The God Who Redeems. However today’s sermon is titled When Trials Come.

Why? Because the truth is that we often build our lives with certain expectations.

I remember—I think it was in 2022—my wife and I planned a trip to Puerto Rico. Many of you are familiar with this story, and I had some great expectations for that trip.

I took my camera and my drone. We looked up places we wanted to visit and restaurants where we wanted to eat. We planned which days we would visit our families. We rented an Airbnb. The idea was basically to visit our own island as tourists.

And the truth is that when we arrived, everything seemed to be going according to plan.

From the moment I got off the plane, I went to Isla Verde, through the drive-thru of Los Gorditos, and got some mofongo with carne frita and a Malta. So things started pretty good!

Then we went to the Amigos supermarket near where we were staying and bought all sorts of things we miss from home. Again everything seemed to be going according to plan.

Now, what we didn’t plan was that later that night I would begin experiencing heart palpitations and tachycardia that continued into the next day.

To make a long story short, the next day, while we were visiting my wife’s aunts, I ended up in an emergency room in Aguas Buenas. From there, I was transferred by ambulance to the Mennonite hospital in Cayey, where I ended up hospitalized for nine days with sepsis. Church, we had expectations. We had plans.

But the truth is, life doesn’t always go according to plan. And somehow:

We expect our families to remain together.

We expect our health to remain stable.

We expect our work to provide security.

We expect to go on vacation and everything to go great!

But sometimes life can change suddenly.

A diagnosis comes.

A relationship breaks.

A job is lost.

A loved one dies.

Or you get sepsis while you’re on vacation in Puerto Rico.

And suddenly, a season of stability becomes a season of uncertainty.

Well, the opening verses of the book Ruth serve as a reminder that suffering is not unusual in a fallen world. That even those who belong to God are not exempt from famine, displacement, disappointment, suffering, and death.

That following Christ does not mean that trials will never come.

However, the book of Ruth will also teach us something incredibly important:

1. Suffering never places God’s people outside of His sovereign and redeeming purposes.

As we journey through the book of Ruth, there will be moments when God seems silent and moments when His providence is difficult to see.

Behind everything that is happening—even when the characters cannot see it—the sovereign God of the universe is working out His purposes of redemption. And that leads us to the question I want us to consider this afternoon:

How can we trust God when trials enter our lives and we cannot see what He is doing?

So as we unpack these first five verses, I want us to consider four truths about suffering that will help us understand life in a fallen world and teach us to trust in the sovereign providence of God.

Here is truth #1:

I. WE LIVE IN A FALLEN WORLD

Ruth 1:1 NASB 2020

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

Beloved, this first verse is packed with important background information.

The book of Ruth begins like an old tale: “Now it came about in the days when the judges governed…”

With this sentence the author is placing Ruth within a particular period of Israel’s history—and this is the period described in the book of Judges. And if you’ve ever read the the book of Judges, in it we see a tragic pattern that repeats itself several times. In the book:

Israel turns away from the Lord.

God gives them over to the consequences of their rebellion.

The people experience oppression and suffering.

They cry out to God.

God graciously raises up a judge to deliver them.

There is a period of peace.

And eventually, the cycle begins again.

Rebellion. Judgment. Crying out. Deliverance. Peace. And then rebellion again.

As a matter of fact the author of the book of Judges summarizes the spiritual condition of this period with these words:

Judges 21:25 NASB 2020

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

In other words this was a time of spiritual confusion, moral compromise, covenant unfaithfulness, and social disorder.

So this means Ruth that does not begin during peaceful and favorable circumstances. It begins “in the days when the judges governed.”

So, from the start the author is placing a dark cloud over the story.

Then the narrator adds another layer of darkness: “There was a famine in the land.” In other words this was a time of scarcity and hunger. Where families were looking for ways to survive.

And there is an interesting irony here because the famine reaches Bethlehem. “And a man of Bethlehem in Judah.” The name Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Yet there is no bread in the house of bread.

The place associated with provision has become a place of hunger.

And knowing where the biblical story eventually goes makes this even more beautiful. Because centuries later, from this little town called the house of bread, God would give the world the One who declared: “I am the bread of life.”

However Ruth 1 does not begin with abundance. It begins with famine.

Now, the text does not explicitly tell us why this particular famine happened. But it clearly places before us a world where things are not as they should be. Why? Because We live in a fallen world.

2. Ever since sin entered God’s creation, we have lived in a world marked by brokenness, suffering, decay, and death.

And the truth is that becoming a Christian does not remove us from those realities.

Coming to Christ does not mean our bodies cannot become sick.

It does not mean we will never lose a job.

It does not mean our families will never experience difficulty.

It does not mean we will never grieve.

And it does not mean that someone we love will never die.

Jesus never promised us otherwise. He told His disciples:

John 16:33 ESV

“In the world you will have tribulation. (not might but will) But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

This means that:

3. Following Christ will not exempt us from suffering.

And this is important because sometimes we begin to believe that if we faithfully obey God, nothing painful should happen to us. But Scripture never makes that promise. The gospel does not promise us a life without suffering.

However the gospel does promises us something far greater: Suffering will not have the final word.

Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” That is our hope.

And church, as we begin this journey through Ruth, I want us to develop a theology of suffering before suffering comes. Because God’s people will experience unexpected loss.

As a matter of fact in these past few days we have been reminded of this reality, through the tragedies in Venezuela and Colombia, that people who sincerely love the Lord can suddenly find themselves mourning.

And when those moments come, we must remember that:

4. Our suffering is not necessarily evidence that we have done something wrong. It is evidence that we are living in a world broken by sin.

Faith does not require us to pretend this world is not broken.

Faith does not look at famine and call it abundance.

Faith does not look at sickness and pretend it doesn’t hurt.

Faith does not stand beside a grave and pretend death is not an enemy.

5. Faith acknowledges the brokenness of this world while looking to God in the middle of that brokenness.

Because although we live in a fallen world, we belong to a God who is sovereign over it. And sometimes the pressure of suffering can lead us to decisions we might never have considered otherwise.

Which brings us to truth #2:

II. SUFFERING CAN DRIVE US TO DESPERATE DECISIONS

Ruth 1:1–2 NASB 2020

Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. (V2) 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, Ephrathites of Bethlehem in Judah. So they entered the land of Moab and remained there.

Now in the second part of V1 we are introduced to a man named Elimelech. And we are told that he took his wife, Naomi, and their two sons away from Bethlehem and into the land of Moab.

V1 tells us that they went there “to reside in the land of Moab.”

The Hebrew word for reside carries the idea of sojourning—living somewhere as a foreigner—and it may suggest that their original intention was temporary.

Perhaps the plan was: We’ll go to Moab. We’ll survive the famine. When things improve, we’ll come home.

And from a human perspective, we can understand the decision. There was no food in Bethlehem. Elimelech had a wife and two sons. He had a family to provide for. And apparently, there was food in Moab.

However Moab was not an insignificant destination. There was a troubled history between Israel and Moab.

For starters the people Moab originated from the sinful union between Lot and one of his daughters in Genesis 19.

Later, Balak, king of Moab, hires Balaam to curse Israel.

In Numbers 25, Moabite women were involved in drawing Israelite men into sexual immorality and idolatry.

And during the period of Judges, Eglon, king of Moab, oppressed Israel for eighteen years.

So Moab was not just another town down the road. For an Israelite family, Moab carried historical and spiritual baggage.

Here is a family from Bethlehem in Judah, from the covenant land God had given His people, crossing into the territory of a people who had historically been hostile toward Israel and Israel’s God.

Now, church, we must be careful here. The author never says: “Elimelech sinned against the Lord by going to Moab.”

So we shouldn’t say what the text doesn’t say. We don’t know everything going through this man’s mind. But what we can see is the severity of the situation. This family was desperate. There was famine in Bethlehem and apparently food in Moab. So they left the Promised Land looking for sustenance.

But here is the painful irony: The place that appeared to offer them life and sustenance would become the setting of profound loss.

And church, this type of pressure can influence our decisions.

When we’re afraid…

When we’re exhausted…

When we’re hurting…

When we don’t know how we’re going to pay the bills…

Desperation can make us feel that we have to take control at any cost. And sometimes we begin looking for security in places that were never meant to become our refuge.

For you, it may not be Moab.

It may be money.

A relationship.

A career.

Another city.

Your own ability to think that you are in control everything.

But beloved,

6. Changing our circumstances cannot remove us from the realities of a fallen world.

Elimelech could leave Bethlehem, but he could not leave mortality behind.

He could find a place with food, but he could not find a place where suffering and death could never reach him. And neither can we. Many of us understand something about leaving one’s place in search of a better life because many of us are immigrants.

I remember when I lived in Honduras, there was a young man named Rufino who lived in the mountains. He wanted something better for his family. He wanted to relieve some of the poverty they were experiencing.

So he began the difficult journey north toward the United States. Part of that journey involved riding the freight train through Mexico commonly called La Bestia—The Beast. I’m pretty sure that Rufino began his journey with hope.

But during the journey, he fell from the train and died. He left looking for life, but along the journey he encountered death. And the point is not that his decision was sinful. The point of Ruth is not that moving somewhere else is sinful either.

There are moments when suffering requires us to make difficult decisions.

Sometimes moving is wise.

Sometimes changing jobs is wise.

Sometimes seeking another opportunity is wise.

The deeper question is: When trials come where do we turn to for hope and security?

When everything becomes uncertain, where do we run? What becomes our refuge? Because:

7. No earthly place can protect us from all the brokenness of this world.

For this reason the Psalmist says in:

Psalm 46:1 NASB 2020

God is our refuge and strength, A very ready help in trouble.

8. There is only one refuge strong enough to hold us when everything else begins to fall apart. God Himself must be our refuge.

Notice that the promise is not that God’s people will never experience trouble. The promise is that when (not if but when) trouble comes, we have a refuge.

And there is one final detail: V1 says Elimelech went to Moab “to reside” there.

But once we get to V2 we read that: “They entered the land of Moab and remained there.”

And this means that what may have begun as a temporary solution for some reason became the place where this family settled. And the narrator is about to show us what happened during those years. Because famine would not be Naomi’s greatest suffering.

Which brings us to truth #3:

III. LIFE IN THIS WORLD CAN CHANGE IN A MOMENT

Ruth 1:3–5 NASB 2020

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. (V5) Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.

Church, one of the difficult realities about loss is that sometimes there is no warning. Sometimes life can change with something as common as a phone call. Our phone sits on the table. It rings every day. Most calls don’t change anything about our lives. But every once in a while, the phone rings and on the other side are words we never expected to hear.

Maybe it’s the doctor.

Maybe it’s a family member.

Maybe it’s news about someone you love.

And you hang up, and everything around you looks the same. The furniture hasn’t moved. The clock is still running. Everyone else continues with their day. But your world has changed.

There are moments that divide our lives into before and after.

And that’s almost what the narrator does here. V2 ended by stating that: “They entered the land of Moab and remained there.”

And then in V3 we are told that: “Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died.” That’s it. There is no warning.

No description of an illness.

No explanation.

No final words.

Suddenly, death has entered the story. And notice that the narrator doesn’t simply say: “Elimelech died.”

He says: “Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died.” Naomi has lost her husband.

The man with whom she had built her life.

The man with whom she left Bethlehem.

The father of her sons.

He’s gone. But then the text adds an additional detail: “She was left with her two sons.”

As you read that you feel like there is tremendous loss, but something remains. She still has Mahlon and Chilion.

And then V4 gives us what appears to be some hope:

Ruth 1:4 NASB 2020

And they took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth.

So, her sons get married:

Maybe the family can be rebuild.

Maybe grandchildren will come.

Maybe Naomi can imagine a future again.

And then we are told that: “they lived there about ten years.”

But then V5 says that: “Both Mahlon and Chilion also died.” Loss comes again.

Naomi buried her husband.

And now she has to bury both of her sons. (Unimaginable pain)

The narrator is compressing years of life in Moab into only a few sentences, and this is part of what makes the passage feel even heavier.

Famine.

Displacement.

Death.

Marriage.

Death.

And death again.

In five verses, Naomi has lost almost everything that gave her life stability.

Her homeland.

Her husband.

Both sons.

Her immediate financial security.

Her social protection.

And the future she probably imagined for herself.

There are no sons. No grandchildren. No obvious heir. And notice how V5 ends: “And the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.”

The narrator doesn’t even use her name. He says: “The woman was left…”

At the end of these verses, Naomi stands as a widow in a foreign land with no clear idea of what her future will look like.

Now church hear me out:

9. The opening of the book Ruth is heavy because suffering is heavy.

I love the honesty of Scripture. The Bible does not minimize Naomi’s pain.

It doesn’t rush past the graves.

It doesn’t tell her everything is fine.

Because everything is not fine.

Her husband is dead.

Her sons are dead.

Her grief is real.

Which means that:

10. Biblical faith does not require us to pretend that painful things aren’t painful.

There are losses that change us. And later in this chapter, Naomi will display this change by putting into words to what she is experiencing. When she returns to Bethlehem, the women ask: “Is this Naomi?” Now, listen to her response:

Ruth 1:20–21 NASB 2020

“Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. (V21) I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Beloved, How does Naomi see her life? “empty.”

And that is how suffering can feel:

Empty.

Forgotten.

Disoriented.

Vulnerable.

Bitter.

Afraid.

Naomi’s pain is real. However her interpretation of her life is not yet complete. From where she is standing, you can understand why she feels empty. But church, we have information Naomi doesn’t have yet.

We know the rest of the story. At this point she can only see what she has lost. And this that she cannot yet see what God is doing.

She doesn’t know about the field.

She doesn’t know about Boaz.

She doesn’t know about the redeemer.

She doesn’t know about Obed.

Jesse.

David.

And she certainly cannot yet see that God is working through this broken family in a story that will ultimately lead to Jesus Christ. Which means that her pain is real. But her perspective is limited.

And the same is true for us.

11. There will be times in our lives when we will not be able to understand what the Lord is doing.

There will be seasons when all we can see is what we’ve lost.

But if you belong to Christ:

Your suffering does not mean God has abandoned you.

Your loss does not mean His promises have failed.

And your inability to see what God is doing does not mean that God is not working.

Naomi’s story appears to have reached a dead end in V5. But Ruth doesn’t end at verse 5. (Still have 17 verses and 3 chapters)

So even though we’ve reached the final verse of our passage this afternoon, I cannot leave you standing beside three graves in Moab. And for this reason there still is one more truth I need you to see.

IV. THE DARKNESS IS REAL, BUT THE DARKNESS IS NOT FINAL

Ruth 1:1–5 does not end with an immediate miracle.

There is no resurrection.

There is no sudden provision.

There is no voice from heaven explaining what God is doing.

The passage ends with three widows and three graves. And if we only had these verses, we might conclude that death, famine, and loss had won. But this is only the beginning.

As we continue our journey through the book Ruth we will see that:

The famine will end.

Naomi will return home.

Ruth will enter the fields of Boaz.

A redeemer will arise.

Emptiness will give way to fullness.

Death will give way to new life.

This broken family will be brought into the lineage of King David.

And through that lineage, the story will eventually lead us to Jesus Christ.

I n Ruth 1:5 Naomi cannot see any of this. All she can see is what she has lost. But God can see the end from the beginning. The sovereign God is already working, even though His hand cannot yet be clearly seen.

And that is one of the great encouragements of this passage:

12. God’s silence does not mean God’s absence.

You may be in the first five verses of a painful season.

You may be looking at circumstances that feel confusing or final.

You may not understand why God has permitted them.

But

13. Our inability to see what God is doing does not mean that God is not working.

Paul writes in:

Romans 8:28 NASB 2020

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 does not say that all things are good.

Death is not good.

Famine is not good.

Disease is not good.

Betrayal is not good.

Grief is not good.

Romans 8:28 says that God works through all things for the good of His people and the fulfillment of His purpose. And what is that purpose? Paul continues:

Romans 8:29 NASB 2020

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son,

14. God’s good purpose is not simply to make our circumstances comfortable. His purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son and bring us safely into glory.

And the greatest evidence that God can work through suffering is the cross of Jesus Christ.

Beloved, at the cross, it appeared that darkness had won.

The sinless Son of God was rejected.

The promised King was crucified.

The disciples were scattered.

The tomb was sealed.

But what appeared to be the triumph of evil became the means through which God accomplished our redemption.

Peter declared in:

Acts 2:23 NASB 2020

this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Human beings acted wickedly. And yet in:

Acts 2:24 NASB 2020

But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

So, church:

15. At the cross in what appeared to be the triumph of evil, God’s sovereign redemptive purpose was being accomplished.

The cross shows us that God can take the darkest event in history and accomplish through it the greatest good in history. Therefore, when suffering comes, we do not place our hope in our ability to explain everything.

We place our hope in the God who redeems because:

The God who was sovereign at the cross is sovereign in our suffering.

The God who raised Christ from the dead is not defeated by famine, grief, human decisions, or death.

And the God who begins His work in the darkness will faithfully accomplish His redeeming purposes.

So yes, the story begins with suffering.

But church it will not end there. Why? Because a Redeemer is coming.