Dealing With What You've Been Left With

The Hand That’s Dealt

There are spades players that know what to do with a great hand. Then there are the great players that can make a 10 of hearts walk. Typically in life we know what to do when we have all the high spades, a couple of aces and we are cutting books after the first go round. Here’s the deal, a game of spades typically can’t be won from one hand, no matter what a player is as good as how he plays the hand that has been dealt.

Let’s take our mind back to the Old Testament to the book of Ruth. We have used countless hours in the pulpit, in Sunday school classes and many books attempting to empower people based off the story of Ruth. Keeping that in mind, let us not forget Naomi, the matriarchal backbone of this family. Naomi left her homeland with her husband because of famine. Only to be isolated in a foreign land after her husband her two sons had died.

Many single mothers can attest to verse 5, considering what Naomi was left with one might consider it a bad hand. “Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons”. Considering this sometimes you get bad hands back to back. But thank God that as long as you have life, you are still in the game. “Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband”.

We Do Not Control The Hand We’ve Been Dealt.

Some trials you do not anticipate, you do not have a chance to prepare for, and sometimes you do not even know how to respond.

No matter the trial your faith is what sustains you in the midst of surprising attacks from life.

Trial should not separate you from Christ or God. Did Naomi have tribulation? Yes, her husband is dead, her sons are dead. I can only imagine how distressed she was, how desolate she felt. Nonetheless she kept playing the hand that she was dealt.

There are things going on in your life that you cannot control.

Job

Sickness

How other people treat you

Death

No matter how devastating these things are we have to remind ourselves that God is still in control!

Even when you get dealt a bad hand in life when you have been living right, find the blessing, do not be intimidated, do not be in fear understand that God still holds all the power.

Naomi had intentions of returning home and allowing God to direct her life in the way he saw fit, “May the Lord deal kingly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me”.

We do not control what is dealt to us, but we hope that the hand we have is good enough to help us get through the trials in hopes of triumph on the other end.

Naomi did not possess the control to avoid famine, she did not and could not prevent her husband and her sons from dying. One thing that she could control is her trust in God. No matter the hand she had been dealt, no matter the out decision that her daughters in law made God is still in control.

Trust God First

In life we find ourselves missing out on the blessings of God by depending on people more than we do God. Although Naomi was thankful for Ruth, her trust in God allowed her to appreciate Ruth that much more.

It’s not that we do not love our friends and family, but as humans we have flaws, we are self interested, and sometimes we are just too selfish to put others needs ahead of ours.

Honestly, let’s face it, we mess up. Just like we can vividly recollect the times we have been let down, there are a number of times when we were supposed to be a good friend and we let people down too.

Imagine how Naomi felt, to lose her husband to lose her sons. No control over that trial, but when we trust God he will bless us with a Ruth in our life when we need it the most.

Ruth is such a blessing because she is able to work when Naomi is too aged and tired. She is able to find a Boaz that would not only be a blessing to her but a blessing to her Mother-in-Law.

When we trust God, not only does he put people around you that will bless your life, but often times they are a blessing to your family as well.

Do Not Renege

In spades, there are some folks out there that like to cheat! This is called a renege, and when someone reneges they do not follow suit. You may have been given a bad hand in life, but God still expects you to follow suit. In other words, the hand you have been dealt does not eliminate the fact that God still expects obedience.

In spades, when someone reneges it’s sort of like sin the people at the table might not always catch you but when you do you lose books that you’ve worked hard.

In life we may be able to sin in secret but God knows. Even when the people at the table of life do see the sin in your life God knows and he expects us to turn away from those things and follow suit!

If we have been caught up, understand when all hope is lost, when it seems like everything has been taken away. Just like Naomi had Ruth to support her and work on her behalf, praise God that we have Jesus that is able to step in for us and be a blessing when we feel like all hope is lost!

When life feels like a shipwreck, when all hope is gone! Jesus is the anchor we need to sustain us in the sea of life no matter who bad the weather of life has become!