Surviving Moab

Have you ever had made a large transition in life and it just seemed like things fell apart.

There was a couple I knew a few years ago and they were a couple that worked hard their entire life

They did everything correctly

And they were finely at retirement age, and they were excited to begin what everyone calls “the golden years”

And so they moved to be close to their grandkids and found a home they loved.

But something happened because a short period after they moved the husband began to experience a few health issues that progressively got worse

And with in a month he sat in a doctors office hearing the words “It is cancer”

And at that moment it seemed like everything fell apart.

Because they lived a beautiful life but within a moments notice it seemed like things turned upside down.

Have you ever had something like that happen?

Where things are going well, but out of no where it seems like they have fallen apart.

Out of no where a sickness hits

Out of no where a huge financial expense occurs

Out of no where something happens to your child

a death occurs

That (fill in the blank) event that seemed to have changed everything

And if you are honest your not sure if things will ever be the same.

And I am sure if you have faced an event like this you have found yourself asking why? Why did God allow this to happen.

And really today we are looking at the book of Ruth, and really in this book their is a woman named Naomi

And Naomi and her family have one of these events happen to them.

And we are just going to start in Ruth 1:2-5 because this sets up where we are today. It says this:

Ruth 1:2–5 NIV

2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there. 3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

So listen to whats happening here, because this story is all to familiar because Naomi, her husband and two sons moved to Moab and we do not know how long they are there, but the text mentions Naomis husband dies

And not only that but we are told her sons marry, but then both pass away 10 years after they move there.

And so I want you to picture all that is happening here.

Because Naomi’s world has come crashing down

Because she is mourning the loss of her sons and husband, but she is also a foreigner in the land so she does not have roots

I mean if you move to a new neighborhood you might have a few friendly neighbors, but ultimatly its not the same as the place you grew up.

So she is largely alone

But also at this time men were the providers and if you were widowed with no sons it meant you were most likely in poverty.

So you can see all of these areas where she did not just loose her sons, but her life has fallen apart.

She’s mourning, she lonely, she impoverished, and all she has left is her daughter in laws who she tells to leave her and marry others.

And we get to the second hald of Ruth 1:13 and she get to the point where she says

Ruth 1:13 (NIV)

“13… the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

And so to fast forward a little bit she one daughther in law leaves the other (named Ruth) sticks around

And they move back to Bethlehem where Naomi was from,

And people recognize her and this really shows how Naomi feels in Ruth 1:20-21. She says this:

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.”

And I want you to catch what Naomi is saying because the name Naomi means Pleasant

And the name Mara means bitter

And she is saying who I am has changed, I used to be happy and now I am bitter,

I used to be full, but now I am empty

And she says the one who is responsible is God.

I love the realness here, because in this passage Naomi is showing raw emotions

And some of us might be thinking “is she allowed to talk like that”

“I mean that seems a little scary”

But can I just say when you are going through a tragedy its okay to say to God “what is going on?”

“Where are you right now?”

and even to talk with other Christfollowers and say God feels far off right now.

Because when you ignore the emotions what happens is you build a wall.

I mean think about any relationship, because you can ignore small issues or things that are not a huge deal,

But psychiatrist have found if you ignore issues and stop communicating on things what happens in a relationship is a wall is built between the two people where they get further away from each other.

And really thats what happens in our walk with God if we pretend everything is okay.

If you have ever felt this way talk to God and find Christlike friends to walk through the situation with.

But look what happens in the story because she says this and some of us would say “wow, she talked to God that way, God’s going to be angry with her”

But what I love about this story is that it shows a beautiful truth that when we trust God (even when its hard to do) you can find hope even in the most devastating situation.

And I am steeling this quote from another pastor, but I want you to say this out loud with me after I read it the first time.

The Past is not the final destination

Now read it with me: The Past is not the final destination.

You know its like if you have been on a road trip for vacation there are a lot of fun stops, but then there are also some ones that are not the best.

There are the creepy gas station you had to stop at because you kid had to go to the bathroom.

Theres the tire that needs the changed on the side of the road,

But the thing is these are just small stops along the way, it is not the final destination

And in your life where you have been in the past and where you are today is not your final destination,

But there is hope.

Because we serve a God that cares for you, a God who has plans for you,

Please realize seasons will past.

And this happens with Naomi and Ruth, because picking back up in the story they have moved back to Bethlehem and since they are poor during this time the poor would often times glean from fields after the feild was harvested

This way if anything was missed or leftover, they were able to pick it up.

However this was not always safe because some people did not like them doing it and they would attack them.

And so Ruth is actually gleaning from the feild and a guy named Boaz enters the story in Ruth 2:8. And Boaz owns the field and has seen Ruth in the field and you can tell he is empathetic towrds her becuase look what he says (Ruth 2:8-9, it says):

Ruth 2:8–9 NIV

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

So whats neat here is Boaz tells them “Ruth you are safe here” and later on he does a lot more for her then just this passage where he helps her in ways that she never would have expected.

But as I read this part and even heard more about the story I had the thought of isn't it amazing the impact one person can have?

And the truth is we need more Boaz’s, because the amazing thing is that God has given us the ability to help people out who are going through a challenging time.

I mean it can even be something small, and you might never know the impact.

I mean think about grandparents for a second. Raise you hand if you are a grandparent.

You are all life savers, because if you are a parent, you love having kids.

I mean they are a blessing and they are amazing, but they are also a little bit of work.

But Grandparents will gladly take your kid for a few hours and you can go do something other than having the job of keeping kids alive.

And you would think 3 hours would not make a huge difference, but its amazing how good you feel after a 3 hour break from your kids.

But you know in a somewhat similar way you might feel like something your doing is small, but you never know how God can use that to impact the person you are helping

You can help someone get out of the season of life they are in and move them to the next area

So often we say you are in my thoughts and prayers, and that is great, but to be honest a lot of times God calls us to action.

What would it look like to be someone’s Boaz?

Well let me get to the very last part of this passage, because something happens where Boaz ends up marrying Ruth and Naomi and Ruth get brought out of the situation and live with Boaz

But something really powerful happens at the very end of this book Ruth and Boaz have a child and look at some of the last verses of the book of Ruth (Ruth 4:16-17) it says:

Ruth 4:16–17 (NIV)

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

So something cool is out of this story that looks so broken comes a child named Obed who is the grandfather of a guy named David who we know as king David

And eventually out of the line of David comes Jesus.

You know I guess going back to one of the questions I asked in the beginning when things seem to be falling apart and we ask God why?

A lot if you were to ask me, my awnser would be I dont know.

But we know a few things, God does not delight in the situation, in fact his heart breaks

and then we know that we serve a God who is taking the brokenness from our fallen world and putting them back together in a way that only he can.

And sometimes thats hard, because we have those moments like Naomi where we are yelling “God what are you doing?!?!”

But what would it look like to say God I trust you, I may be angry, I may be upset, but I will trust you.

And I want to be honest we may never understand in our lifetime why something happened, but we serve a God who sees things coming together for good.

This morning I don’t know where you are, but God has a plan, it might be hard to see, but He sees it and He will be with you through this season.

And this morning you might be in a battle, and that battle seems to much, but I am hear to tell you the battle does not below to you, but the lord.