Good morning. Oh, guys, you can do better than that. Good morning. Great. Thank you.
Great. Welcome to Watermark. My name's Chris. If you don't know me, I'm one of the pastors here.
And it's just really exciting to, after Easter, to be getting into a new series. We're going to
do a new four-part series in the Book of Ruth. And I'm personally really excited about this
because it's one of the most beautifully written stories, I think, in the whole of the Bible.
And so we're going to go for the next four weeks looking at this love story. And what we've done
is we've looked at the person of Jesus kind of moving up to Easter. And we've seen how Jesus
really is part of the climax of God's great redemption story. But sometimes we wonder how
this kind of, how Jesus fits into our ordinary, everyday, mundane lives, the ups and downs that
we go through. We wonder, where is God's big story? Where do I fit in? Where does my story
fit into this? And the Book of Ruth is going to show us how our story fits into where God's story
is working and what He is doing. Because God's writing a script, and your life and my life
is part of that script. And so what I want to do is I want to just, let's just pray,
and let's ask God to just really speak to us this morning.
Father, I thank you that even as we're here this morning, it's not an accident that we're here.
Thank you. You have brought us here because you want to speak to us.
I pray that you'd open our eyes, open our ears, open our hearts, Lord, to hear what you want to say.
I pray that you'd use my words, Lord, inadequate as they are, to just be able to convey something of
how beautiful you are. Please be present here this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen.
So this book that we're going to be looking at, the Book of Ruth, I really encourage you to be reading
along as we go. One of the interesting things is, God is not prominent in kind of the center stage
of the story. Okay? In the Gospels, you know, Jesus is kind of center stage. But in Ruth, God is kind of
working behind the scenes in everyday ordinary life. He's there every moment, but He's kind of behind
the scenes. He's working out His plan. And so what we're going to do is, you know, like a good TV drama
kind of unfolds bit by bit, the tension builds. We're going to look chapter by chapter over these
next four weeks to see how this storyline is going to play out. So don't go to the last page before
you've read, you've looked at the first part of it. Okay? So we're going to, I'm going to share, just go
through the story and pick out some things that even as 21st century readers, we might miss from the
background here. I want us to see what the author is trying to do with this book. And then we're just
going to come through and see four things that this passage really just wants to speak and share
with us. Okay? So let's go. Let's dive in to this book. First line, in the days when the judges ruled.
We're going to stop there. In the days when the judges ruled. What you need to know is the book of
Ruth is written during this period of the judges. Judges is the book before Ruth in our Bibles.
And what you need to know is the last verse of the book of Judges summarizes the whole book. It says
this, in those days there was no king and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.
This was a dark time. This was a time where people had stopped worshiping God, people who go in their
own way. There was injustice, there was violence, there was rape. It was a horrific time. And the book of
Ruth is this little glimmer of light in the midst of this dark time. And what you can see is things
are not easy in Bethlehem because God's judgment has come upon the people of God. There is a famine
in Bethlehem. Now Bethlehem, we all kind of know it from the Christmas story, but actually Bethlehem
was a small town. And it's famous for being King David's birthplace. But before we get to there,
we've got to know what it means. It means literally house of bread. That's what Bethlehem means,
house of bread. And it's ironic because the house of bread has no bread. There's no food here in the
house of bread. It's a tough time. So this guy, Elimelech, he decides, I'm going to leave the promised
land. I'm going to go all the way down to this place called Moab because I want to find some food
down there. And so you might think that sounds like a good idea. Okay, find the nearest supermarket.
They didn't have a supermarket. So Moab seems a good place. But if you were a first century,
if you were a Jewish reader and you heard the word Moab, you'd be going, uh-oh. Because Moab
Moab was the son of Lot, who was Abraham's nephew. And he was a son by incest. And the story didn't
get any better because Moab became a pagan nation. And they kept following idols and they kept
opposing Israel. When Israel wanted to get into the promised land, they were trying to get through
Moab. They said, can we come in? The Moabites said, no way. You're not coming our way. In fact,
what they did was they even sent a guy called Balaam to curse the Israelites. And then the Moabite
women came along and seduced the Israelite men and took them away to worship other gods and God's
judgment came upon them. So when an Israelite heard the word Moab, they were thinking, that's not good
news. In fact, even in Deuteronomy 23, the Moabites were forbidden to come into the Jewish camp
because of their idolatry and their wickedness. So when this says they're going down to Moab,
that's like an unemployed woman coming to you and saying, I'm going to the red light district in
one child to look for work. That's the same kind of impression. You're going, that doesn't sound like
a good idea. They're leaving God's people, going to a dangerous pagan place. And when they get there,
tragedy strikes. Naomi loses her husband. And then what happens very quickly afterwards,
it says her sons marry two foreign Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Again, a Jewish reader will be going,
oh no, that's not good news because Jewish men were not meant to marry foreign women, not because of
racism, but because they would lead them away to follow their gods. And so there's one poor choice
going to Moab and then there's another poor choice in who they're marrying. And for 10 years, Ruth and
Orpah, they have no children. They're barren. And for Jewish, in the Old Testament, barrenness and famine
and death are often curses for disobedience. That's what the law said. Tragedy strikes again.
Her two sons die. Is this a happy story so far? No. In that culture, men were the landowners
and your husband and your sons were your financial security, your future, your hope. They would protect
you from being taken advantage of by other men. They were the status. Their name gave you status. So
when both her husband and her sons die, she is basically now a vulnerable, nameless nobody.
In fact, many widows ended up just in prostitution to survive. And you know, actually in verse 5,
where our translation says, Noemi was left without her two sons and her husband. It actually says,
The woman. Because she's lost her name. She's a nobody in society.
Now we don't know, the way the author writes it, we don't know, is this God's judgment coming
on them because of their poor decisions? Or is it just the tragedy of life? There seems
to be ambiguity there. Elimelech was the one who took them down to Moab. But it's the women
who are the survivors. This is a dark time. And then a glimmer of hope comes. Naomi hears
that God has restocked Bethlehem with food. That's verse 6. That he's come to his people.
The house of bread has got bread again. And she starts the 7 to 10 day walk to go back
to Bethlehem. To a place she's not seen for 10 years. To her people. She's returning to
God's people again. And as she goes, she's got these two daughter-in-law, Orpah and Ruth.
And they go with her. But she knows her life is over. She's probably over 50. She's not going
to get married again. No one to look after her. Destined to poverty and a life of insecurity.
And so out of love for these two daughters-in-law, she tries to persuade them to go back.
She says, like three times, she says, turn back. Turn back. Turn back. Because she knows
they're Moabites. If they were going to come into Israel, they're not going to be accepted.
If they come into Israel, she knows their marriage prospects are low. She knows that there's an
Israelite law which said in Deuteronomy, if you have a widow, the brother of the husband who had
died was meant to marry that widow to provide protection for her. But she's got no more sons.
There's nobody else who can marry them and provide protection for them. So she's saying, listen,
just go back to Moab. You've got better chances there. You might find a husband there. You might find
a future there. You might find a hope there. I've got nothing. My life is over. I'm done.
I've got no hope. But my life is more bitter than for you because you might still have a chance.
So go back. Don't ruin your life. That's what she's saying.
And so as the story goes on, Orpah knows this is true. So she's like, okay, I want to stay with you,
but I know that I'm going to lose everything. So she decides to turn back to Moab. And do you notice
it says that she turns back to her gods? That's what it says in verse 15. She turns back to her people
and her gods in verse 15. But Ruth, you see the contrast with Ruth. You see, because Ruth,
she faces the full prospect of having every ounce of security stripped from her. She could become an
outsider, no future, no prospects. And yet where Orpah left in verse 14, it says, Ruth clung to Naomi.
Do you know that word clung is the same word in Genesis 2 where it says, when a man leaves his
father and mother and he clings to his wife and they become one flesh? This is as close as you're
going to get. And the author is saying, this is one of the most beautiful expressions of love
that you could see. I mean, look at this verse. This verse is amazing. Memorize this verse. It's
verse 16 to 17. Ruth says, you're not going to be alone. You're never going to be alone. You may
not have a husband or sons, but don't urge me to leave you. I'm not taking no for an answer here.
I'm going with you. My mind's made up. Where you go, I'll go. Where you stay, I'll stay. Your people
shall be my people. Your gods will be my gods. Where you die, I will die. And there will I be buried.
She's saying, Naomi, you're not abandoned. Your life's not over. I'll be with you.
And I will lay down my life. I'll lay down everything else for you.
My marriage prospects everything. You know, one commentator says this, with radical
self-sacrifice, she abandons every base of security that any person, let alone a poor widow,
in that cultural context would have clung to. Her native homeland, her own people, even her own gods.
Wow, this is powerful. How can she be so different from Orpah? That's the question.
Because whereas Naomi had left her life in God's covenant people to find bread elsewhere,
Ruth is leaving her old pagan life and is running to the community of God,
where she knows that there is a God of Israel there, who she's going to come to trust.
But she has no assurance of what lies ahead of her. She doesn't know. Kevin talked about that path
last week, where you just, you don't know everything that's going to happen. All she can do is trust
this God will provide. She knows gods of Moab don't offer her protection.
See, it's a big deal, a big deal for Ruth to leave. But she's finding refuge in God,
the God of Israel. And that's the foundation of her love.
Now, this is interesting in our culture, because
I think we live in a commitment-phobic culture, right? You know, we get an invite on Facebook,
and our favorite response to whether we're going or not is, maybe, right? We don't want to commit
because we're afraid that we might miss out on good things. We live in fear of FOMO, fear of missing
out, right? You know, we fear we might miss out in relationships if we commit too much. We fear if
we stay too long in this job, we might miss out on opportunities. We fear that if I serve God too
much, then maybe my life is not going to work out as it should do. We have FOMO. And yet Ruth's love,
costly, sacrificial,
is a love that I think every one of us wants to be loved like that.
And I think deep down, every one of us
would love to have the courage to love like that.
You see, I watched a YouTube video of a Polish guy
during the Second World War
called Janusz Korczak.
I'm not sure if I pronounced it correctly.
But anyway,
he was the director of an orphanage of 192 Jewish kids during the Second World War.
When the Nazis came to take those kids out of the concentration camp,
they told him, stay behind. We're just taking the kids.
Do you know what he did?
He took their hands and he marched with them to the concentration camp.
He got to the gate of the concentration camp.
One of the guards there recognized him and said,
hey, I can help you escape here. Don't worry.
Do you know what he said?
He said, no, I'm not leaving these kids.
They need to know that right to the end,
they're not alone.
And so he walked into the concentration camp.
He went to his death
with the very children that he'd been looking after.
Because he would not leave them alone
to face that.
That is what Ruth is doing here.
She's showing a depth of costly love
that is so challenging.
And you see in the story,
Naomi is speechless.
Our translation says she stopped urging her.
She stopped urging her to not come.
But actually, the word says,
she didn't say anymore.
So seven days walking,
and they're just walking in silence
until they reach Bethlehem.
And you see, it's been 10 years.
Elimelech and Naomi left 10 years ago.
She returns now,
no husband,
no sons,
completely different woman,
haggard,
downcast,
aged.
People can hardly recognize her.
They say,
is this Naomi?
Naomi?
Is it really you?
And do you know what she says?
She says,
don't call me Naomi,
because Naomi means pleasant.
She says,
call me Mara,
because Mara means bitter.
She says,
Shaddai,
the Almighty,
Shaddai,
it means the mountain one,
the one who is sovereign
over the whole earth,
has made my life bitter.
I went away full,
but I've come back empty.
You stripped me of everything
that was precious to me.
I'm bitter,
life is bitter,
because God,
like a witness in a case,
has testified against me.
I know God's in control
of every moment,
and what's happened to me
shows me that he's against me.
I wonder if you've ever felt like that.
I wonder if you ever felt
whether God is really good,
whether you feel like he's against you.
Why didn't he answer that prayer
when I was asking for him
to do something?
Why am I still single?
Is God against me?
And right at the end of the chapter,
what we have
is we have
Ruth,
and the author explicitly tells us
Ruth the Moabite.
That means Ruth the immigrant.
Ruth the outsider,
who wasn't supposed to be in Israel
because she's a Moabite.
There she is,
standing right next to Naomi,
and Naomi can't see
that Ruth is God's kindness to her.
She can't see it.
And she can't see,
do you see what the last line
of the chapter is?
The barley harvest is beginning.
She'd lost food,
she'd lost family,
and now God is beginning
this story
of restoring and showing kindness.
But there's three chapters left,
so I'm not going to get into
the rest of the story.
But what do we get from this?
Okay, this story is a beautiful,
tragic story.
What do we get from this?
I want to go through four things,
but I want us to see,
this is a story of bitterness or trust.
Bitterness or trust.
Because I don't know about you
and what you're going through
in life right now,
but whether things are great
or whether things are not great,
sooner or later,
you will face situations
in your life
where you will be tempted
to grow bitter.
You know,
there will be times
where you're tempted to say,
why is this happening to me?
God, are you really fair?
This doesn't seem right.
You see,
whether it's because
of your own choices
or whether it's because
of the way life has happened
or other people's choices,
there is a reality
of the brokenness
of our world.
You see,
I have a friend
who got married
a while ago
and she moved to a new place,
got a new job,
had a new life.
Everything was great.
A month in,
she blacks out,
gets to the hospital
and they find out
she had an ectopic pregnancy.
The surgeon has to operate.
It's really serious.
They had to cut out
one of her fallopian tubes.
She's left in the hospital
for a number of weeks
feeling alone
in this new place
wondering,
God,
this is not the way
it's supposed to be.
I've only been married
a month.
You know,
I'm supposed to be
kind of productive
and getting on
with my new life
and I feel like
life's just on hold.
Ever feel like that
when life just feels
like it's on hold?
You know,
she's left with uncertainties
about the future.
Will we be able
to have kids?
Will it happen again
if I get pregnant?
We've only been married
a month.
Did I make a wrong decision?
Is God punishing me
for something I did?
And right when
the clouds roll in,
we have a choice
to run to God
or to run away from God.
To stay in Moab
and to run to Moab
or to run back
to the God of Israel.
And so we need to see
a number of things.
The first thing
we need to see
is in this chapter,
God is sovereign.
Naomi knows this.
She says,
in all of these circumstances,
God's hand
has gone out against me.
God has made my life
midder.
The Lord has brought me
back empty.
God has testified against me.
It's God who's done
all of this.
She knows,
she's understood something,
that God is Shaddai,
the one who is
sovereignly in control
of every single circumstance
that happens in your life
and my life.
She knows that.
He could change
her circumstances
at the blink of an eye.
You know,
but he hasn't.
There's a guy
called Rabbi Kushner
who wrote a book
called
Why Bad Things Happen
to Good People.
Has anyone read it?
Okay.
Why Bad Things Happen
to Good People.
And his argument
is basically this.
God is really good
and kind
but he's just not able
to change things.
He'd love to be able
to help us out
a little bit
in these circumstances
but he really can't
because,
you know,
he's not that powerful.
That's not what
Naomi believes.
That's not what
the Bible teaches.
Jesus says,
not a sparrow
falls to the ground
outside of my
father's care.
He's in control
of every detail.
God is sovereign.
But the second thing
is that God's smile
can sometimes
be hidden in clouds.
What do I mean by that?
Because sometimes
if you know
that God is sovereign
that can sometimes
make it even harder
to accept the things
that happen in our lives,
right?
Because if he could change it,
why doesn't he?
Why doesn't he answer
my prayers all the time?
Because Naomi
doesn't struggle
with believing
that God is in control.
She struggles
with knowing
whether God
is really good.
Whether God
really loves her.
You see,
Naomi,
Naomi tells
Orpah and Ruth,
may God show
kindness to you.
In other words,
she believes up here
God can be kind.
Maybe to everyone else,
but he's not going
to be kind to her.
Because she doesn't believe
that because she sees
these circumstances
that God is really
showing kindness to her.
God is going to be
and we've got to see
a couple of different
things through this.
One is this.
When they went to Moab,
was that a good choice?
No.
And sometimes
when we make poor choices,
there are consequences.
We can't think
that if we walk out
of God's people
and God's presence
and disobedience,
that there won't be
consequences.
You know,
if you go and put
your hand on a hot stove,
you expect it to burn.
You don't go and expect
nothing to happen.
Sin always has consequences,
but it clouds
our view of God as well.
And some of us actually,
we know deep down
we've been staying
in Moab
for a little while.
We know that in our hearts,
we come on a Sunday,
but deep down,
God seems a million miles away
and we prefer things
like news,
YouTube,
Facebook,
anything else
other than spending time
with God
because what drives us
is something else.
Our work drives us.
Our relationships drive us.
What my boss thinks
about me drives us.
And God is just
a Sunday exercise.
But God here says
it doesn't matter
whether you have made
poor choices
or good choices.
He says,
I want you to return
from Moab.
Return.
I want to show you
my kindness.
I want to show you
my kindness.
Because the thing is,
actually,
if you really realize it,
every single one of us
have chosen to go to Moab
in our lives.
We frequently do.
You know,
I want success
in my career
more than I want success
in God's eyes.
We've not loved
other people
as He's called us to love.
We've not obeyed
as He's called us to obey.
And so sometimes,
because we have this
kind of performance-based
mentality,
we think that if God
gives us a difficult situation,
if God strips something
away from us,
that maybe He's punishing us.
But is that true?
Sometimes there are consequences,
but Psalm 34 says,
even the righteous
suffer many afflictions.
I don't know what you're
going through now.
Maybe you're having
a great time.
Maybe you're having
a tough time.
But God,
don't put God
in this little performance box
where if you've worked
hard enough,
then you should get
the good grades.
And good grades means
happy, comfortable,
easy life.
And then if you've been
a bit lazy,
you haven't read your Bible
recently,
you haven't prayed,
therefore you're always
going to get bad grades.
God's going to give you
a hard life.
He's going to give you
a terrible life.
It doesn't work like that.
Sure, there are consequences,
consequences,
but God is wanting
to show us his smile
even when we feel
like the clouds are there.
Because here's the third thing.
God is sovereign.
God's smile is sometimes
hidden by the clouds.
Sometimes that's our
own sinfulness
and the consequences.
Sometimes that's just life.
But the third thing is
God strips us
to show us his kindness.
You know,
some of us have grown bitter.
We've grown bitter at God.
We've grown bitter
at our circumstances.
Maybe you don't think
it's really bitter.
Maybe just a little bit
of bitterness.
But we have expectations.
We have hopes.
We grow up with the expectations
that God is just going
to bless my life
and make it just flourish
in every way.
And we see in our lives
he does do that.
In our community group,
we've seen so many answers
to prayer
for whether it's work,
whether it's relationship,
whether it's babies,
all kinds of things.
God does bless us.
But isn't it true
that sometimes
the really good things
we want can become
the very hope
in our life itself?
We think life
is found in those things.
We want the gifts
more than the giver.
You see,
Naomi believed
that her life
and her hope
was determined
by her husband
and her sons.
She,
her security
lay with them.
And as God
stripped those things
away from her,
she thought life
was over.
That was it.
No hope.
Because she placed
all her hope
in that,
in her husband
and all her sons.
But let me ask you,
in your life,
what in your life,
if it was taken
away from you today,
would leave you
feeling like life
was over?
You had no hope
left.
What if I said
you'll never earn
more money
than you do today
in the rest
of your life?
What if I said
you'll never move
higher in your company
than you do today,
than you are today
in your life?
What if I said
you will never
get married?
What if I said
your kids
will not get
into that school?
Would that
disappoint you deeply?
Because these
are good desires.
They're not bad desires.
These are good desires.
Would that
disappoint you deeply?
Or would that
devastate you
to the point
you felt there was
no life worth living?
Because we take
good desires
and we place
all our weight
on them.
And when we do
that,
we make what
the Bible calls
an idol.
And the thing
is,
when you have
an idol of a hope
weighed so strongly
on certain things,
then it terrifies us
to think that we
could ever live
without it.
And the difficult
thing is,
with these desires,
is they bind us.
Because you notice,
for example,
if you struggle
with singleness,
and then you go
and look on Facebook,
and everyone else
of your friends
is getting married,
does that lead
to joy
or does that
lead to bitterness?
It can easily
lead to bitterness.
Or when you see
that somebody
else's spouse
seems so much
more proactive,
godly,
whatever it is,
than your spouse,
can we suddenly
end up getting
that little bit
of resentment,
saying,
it's not fair.
God,
I've been trying
to serve you,
I've been trying
to do these things
for you,
but it doesn't
seem to be
working out
as it should.
You see,
when bitterness
creeps in,
that's a warning light
to say,
idol alert.
You have placed
a good desire
to become
an ultimate desire,
and you've replaced
God as your
ultimate hope.
And the thing is,
we can be blind
to this,
which is why
sometimes in life,
God graciously
strips us
of things.
Not because
he wants to make
our lives hard,
but because he wants
to show you something.
Because you see,
Naomi was so wrapped
up in her bitterness
that she failed
to see God's kindness.
You see,
in spite of the
poor choices
she'd made,
God hasn't
finished with her.
This is beautiful.
Some of you feel
like you've messed up
in your life.
God's just kind of
getting you a hard time
because you've made
some poor choices.
This tells you
God's not finished
with you.
Because who provides
food again
in Bethlehem?
God does.
God is trying
to draw her back
into the people
of God.
What's the time
that she comes back?
She comes back
it's the barley harvest.
You see,
the very thing
she'd gone down
to Moab
to try and get
was the very thing
that actually God
was providing.
The barley harvest
is when bread
is made.
You get food.
God was wanting
to show you,
you come to me,
you'll be satisfied
in a way
that you go to Moab
you won't be.
But the thing is,
even when there
are these signs
of kindness,
the rays
are peeking
through the clouds,
she doesn't see them.
Because,
do you remember
when she said,
I went away full
and now I'm empty,
I've got nothing.
Who's standing
right next to her?
Ruth is.
Ruth who has
laid down
her life for her.
Ruth who has
given everything
for her
and she can't
see it.
She can't see it.
But we're only
at chapter one.
There's three more
chapters and
as you see
Ruth,
as you see
the barley harvest,
these are glimpses
of the kindness
of what God
is wanting
to show
to Naomi.
And that's
what he wants
to show to us.
Sometimes we're
so focused
on what we don't
have in our lives
that we fail
to see the kindness
that God is trying
to show you
day in
and day out.
And so when
we're struggling,
maybe you're struggling
wondering how am I
going to provide
in my life?
Maybe you're struggling
with a sense of
things just don't
seem fair.
God seems to not
be coming through
for me in a whole
load of ways.
We need to know
he's sovereign.
We need to know
sometimes his smile
is hidden in the clouds.
We need to know
that sometimes
he strips us
because he wants us
to see that
God has got
more for you
in himself
than just in his gifts.
The fourth thing
is he wants to
consider his kindness.
You see,
what you need to do
wherever you are
right now in your life,
you need to look up
and see
not just Ruth
is with you,
there is a better
Ruth who's with you.
Because Jesus Christ
was the one
who clings
closer than a brother
to us.
He didn't just
leave Moab,
he left heaven
itself for you.
He came as the
ultimate insider
but was treated
as the ultimate
outsider.
He didn't just
give up marriage
prospects for you,
he gave up
his very life
for you.
You see,
he was so committed
to bringing you
to himself,
to showing you
his kindness,
that he set his face
towards Jerusalem
and Peter
tries to tell him,
turn back,
don't come back,
don't do this
and Jesus says,
he rebukes Peter
and says,
no,
I'm going to the
cross for you.
You see,
he says,
where you should go,
I will go.
Where you should die,
I will die
instead of you.
So that the judgment
and the punishment
of God
goes on me,
not on you.
You're not alone.
Because when he rose
and ascended to his
father,
he sent his spirit
to us and he says,
I will never leave you.
I will never leave you
as an orphan.
God is with us
and God is for us.
So,
if God is for us
and God is with us,
this week,
you may have choices
and moments
where you're going
to be tempted
to be bitter.
You have a choice
whether you trust
or you get bitter.
But if Jesus
is so committed
to you,
so kind to you
that he would die
for you,
don't you realize
that you can trust him
in your life
with whatever you're
going through
right now
to work out
his redemption plan
because there are
three more chapters
left
and he sees
a bigger story
and he's weaving
your story
into his story.
See,
he wants to bring you
the barley harvest,
the barley harvest
of knowing him.
Every day
this week,
faith
will be
a matter
of a battle
to remember
his kindness
to you.
It doesn't matter
whether you chose
not to grow bitter
last week
when you looked
on Facebook
and did other things,
you talked to your colleagues.
This week's a new week.
You can choose
to be bitter
or to trust.
this is the fight
of faith
but God
calls you
to consider
the kindness
he's showing
to you
most beautifully
at the cross.
You see,
my friend
who was in hospital
in the midst
of her darkness,
she chose
to refuse
bitterness
and to run
to God
and do you know
what she told me?
When I felt
everything was stripped
away,
my hope was gone,
I found hope
in God.
I have never
experienced
such a closeness
with God before.
When God
is all you have,
you discover
that God
is all you need.
We sing
about God's goodness,
we say,
I know God loves me
but often
that's just
left up here.
Sometimes God
will bring you
through circumstances
because he wants
to show the kindness
to go from here
down to here
so that you can
truly sing,
God is sovereign
in my life
and God is kind
in my life
and my story
is hidden
in his story
and he is working
out his great purposes
and plans
and he will get
the glory.
He's what you need
for whatever you're
going through right now.
Let's pray.
Father, I just pray.
I know there are
some people here
who life has been hard.
Health,
work,
relationships
and Lord,
there are some people
here who have grown weary
and are wondering
whether you really
are good
because sometimes
you felt a long way
away.
I pray that you'd
help them to lift
their eyes
and to see
your kindness
in the little things
and in the big things.
I pray, Lord,
for those of us
who right now
are actually,
we're happy
in Moab.
We're happy
just finding
our satisfaction
in all kinds
of other things, Lord,
but I pray
that you'd show us
that those things
are empty,
that they're not
going to,
they're not going
to satisfy.
Show us that we need
to run back
to you
and when we run back,
we're not faced
with a God
who's just looking
to just grudgingly
accept us
but we're looking
at a God
who is desperately
wooing us back
to yourself.
I pray,
make us,
those who learn
how to fight
this week,
to remember
your goodness
and to trust you
and to see
your great love
for us.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.