Watch for God to Work.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Welcome to Village Church. [0:01] If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve, one of the pastors here at Village [0:04] Church. [0:05] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Ruth chapter 3 by His grace. [0:09] We’re going to cover that entire chapter this morning as we continue through this series [0:14] in Ruth.

[0:15] We’re about halfway done right now. [0:18] And so for the past two weeks, we’ve been taking a look at just how it is that God works [0:24] through ordinary circumstances in life, disappointing circumstances in life, oftentimes discouraging, [0:31] sometimes tragic issues that happen in our lives, how God works to bring His will about, [0:38] to bring Himself glory and ultimately us eternal joy through His sovereign power in every one [0:46] of those circumstances.

[0:47] God always has a plan. [0:51] Through everything that comes into my life and everything that goes out of my life. [0:55] There’s no moment in my life, there’s nothing that I do, there’s nothing that I endure [1:02] at which God looks and says, I don’t know exactly how this is going to fit my plan. [1:08] There’s no moment where God has to kind of go back to the drawing board and say, well, [1:12] you’ve really messed my plan up here.

[1:14] You’ve really thwarted what I was actually trying to do here. [1:18] There’s no moment where you have the power, where you have the ability, or anyone else [1:26] has the power and ability to undo God’s eternal plan. [1:33] That can cause us discomfort because we’re like, well, man, what if God doesn’t bring [1:38] me all of my hopes and dreams? [1:40] Well, the good news is that that means that your hopes and dreams were stupid.

[1:44] So, if God doesn’t bring them, then they were wrong plans, they were wrong dreams, [1:51] and what God has for you, even if you endure a great season of disappointment, [1:58] because things didn’t work out for you. [2:01] If you have faith in Jesus, if you trust Jesus Christ, then you know that what’s going to [2:08] come on the other side, even if you don’t realize it until you’re face to face with [2:13] God, is better than what you would have had if things had gone your way.

[2:18] And we struggle with that. [2:20] We struggle with that. [2:22] Because deep down, every one of us has a great temptation to want to be our own God. [2:29] To want to forge our own path, to be the captain of our own destiny. [2:34] And the truth is, is what you need to understand. [2:36] And what I’m hoping you can ultimately see as we get to the end of this series,

[2:42] is that if you’re the captain of the ship, if you’re the one charting out the destiny [2:46] of your life, hell is your best hope. [2:49] Because it’s not going to be the best life now that you thought it was going to be. [2:56] Now, this week we’re going to enter into what is probably the most difficult chapter of [3:06] There’s some misunderstandings about what takes place in this chapter of Ruth. [3:10] There’s some misunderstandings as to what Ruth is really going after.

[3:13] You know, when she lays down at his feet, it’s like, ooh, she uncovered his feet. [3:16] That’s Amish kinkiness there, isn’t it? [3:19] No, and I’m going to show you that. [3:21] It’s not number one. [3:22] But then what I really want us to see this morning is what it looks like for us to [3:29] actually live the life of faith that God calls us to.

[3:33] And at times when we enter into the path of his plan, so when you deal with the disappointment, [3:40] when you deal with the discouragement, when you come face to face with the tragedies [3:44] that will happen in life, you’re not going to avoid them, friend. [3:50] When you give that over to God and say, God, as Naomi said last week, your kindness, [3:57] your covenant faithfulness, your enduring eternal faithfulness to your plan, [4:03] to your glory, to my joy for all time is what I’m going to follow.

[4:09] When you repent and turn from your sin and trust that and actually follow Jesus for real, [4:17] what’s going to happen is is that you’re going to begin to walk into some territory of your life [4:23] that’s going to seem very risky. [4:27] It’s going to seem like you are risking things that you have held dear, maybe for many years. [4:36] And it’s going to force you to get acquainted with new environments and new habits [4:45] that you didn’t know you could before.

[4:49] And on a side note, this is why if you have children, you raise your children to put faith above everything else. [4:59] This is why when you’re raising your children, you raise them to trust the word of God. [5:05] This is why when you’re raising your children, you put the word in front of them, [5:10] you teach them to love Jesus, you fashion what it is to love Jesus and build the church before him [5:17] so that when they get older, walking into environments of faith [5:25] is something that they’ve been doing their entire lives.

[5:30] That’s why this notion that you need to help your kids know what the real world is like, [5:36] because you know it’s not all church, [5:39] that’s the most faithless and arrogant thing you can ever say. [5:43] And it’s an arrogant thing to God to actually believe that. [5:46] Because basically what you’re saying is that the real world isn’t God’s. [5:51] The real world belongs to the pagans.

[5:57] And I’ll call you, please friend, if you’re a follower of Jesus, repent of that. [6:02] Repent of it as soon as you can. [6:05] Because you want your life to be engaging in the risk, the ruthless trust of faith [6:14] in following Jesus wherever he calls, whenever he calls. [6:20] So if you’ve got kids, mom and dad need to be the forerunners of this. [6:27] Grandma and grandpa need to be the forerunners of this.

[6:32] Aunts and uncles, the forerunners of this, so that you can look behind you and say, [6:38] I’m setting a precedent, not of perfectionism, not of a guarantee, [6:43] because there are no guarantees, friend, but a lineage of people who know what it looks like [6:50] to live faithful lives. [6:51] And I believe we’re at a huge deficit of that in our culture right now, [6:55] specifically within the Church of Jesus Christ.

[6:58] Right now, we’re in a culture and we’re building a culture within Christianity [7:02] of playing it safe. [7:04] All right, get your ducks in a row, then follow Jesus. [7:06] Well, you’re never going to follow Jesus. [7:08] You’re going to spend the rest of your life getting your ducks in a row, friend. [7:10] And guess what?

[7:11] As soon as you get them in a row, a purple one comes along. [7:15] He’s wonky and he’s like off with his beak to the side. [7:19] And you’re like, I can’t get him in the row. [7:22] So you never get them in a row and you never end up exercising your faith. [7:26] And so when the moment that you need to hear from the Holy Spirit, [7:30] you’re going to see that today, comes in your life, you can’t hear him.

[7:35] He’s speaking a different language than you’re familiar with in the first place, [7:38] because you have not built a foundation of faith. [7:41] You have not built a foundation of entering into what looks like risk [7:45] from a human perspective. [7:47] But friends, what you need to understand is the real risk is not hearing from God [7:51] and not following him because he’s the Lord of all.

[7:56] All right, so again, Ruth 3, I want to start reading. [7:58] That was all free.

[8:03] Verse 1. [8:05] I want you to, as I’m reading the first five verses, I want you to see, [8:08] and I want you, if you’ve been here for the past few weeks, [8:10] I want you to remember the Naomi that was talking in chapter 1 [8:13] and then think about the difference of what she’s saying in chapter 3. [8:19] Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her,

[8:21] My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? [8:25] Is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? [8:30] See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. [8:33] Wash therefore and anoint yourself, [8:35] and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. [8:38] But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking.

[8:43] But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies, [8:46] then go and uncover his feet and lie down. [8:50] And he will tell you what to do. [8:52] And she replied, [8:54] All you say I will do. [8:57] Pray with me.

[8:58] Father, we are thankful [9:02] in every moment that you are not silent. [9:07] Lord, you have spoken, and you still speak through your word. [9:12] Lord, help us to trust it, help us to saturate our lives with it, [9:17] and help us to cling to the good news of Jesus Christ in every moment [9:22] so that we will understand it.

[9:24] Because apart from you, we can’t understand it. [9:28] Lord, speak to us today. [9:29] Open our hearts and open our minds to receive your word today. [9:32] Be merciful to me, sinner. [9:34] In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. [9:38] Number one, this morning, you need to look for how God is working in your life.

[9:42] You need to look for how God is working in your life. [9:45] Did you know that he is? [9:48] In every moment? [9:50] Every breath of oxygen that you take, [9:53] every step that you take, [9:55] every moment that you’re alive,

[9:57] every time that your mind has a thought, [10:00] the Lord is at work. [10:02] There has never been a moment in your life [10:05] where God has been in some way detached from the circumstances of your life, [10:10] from the events of your life. [10:12] So as you ate breakfast, if you did,

[10:16] as you ate breakfast this morning, [10:18] God was at work. [10:20] God was involved. [10:22] God was supplying. [10:24] God was either receiving praise or he should have received praise [10:28] in every moment of that.

[10:31] The reality is, are you paying attention [10:35] to how God is working in your life? [10:38] So that in the moment where you need to move with God, [10:43] where God’s calling you from one place of faith to another place of faith, [10:48] where he’s calling you from one moment to another moment of sacrifice, [10:52] where you need to depend on him rather than depending on yourself,

[10:56] where you need to take calculated risks, [10:58] where you need to use strategy to bring his will to completion in your life, [11:04] are you paying attention to it? [11:06] Would you see it? [11:08] Have you known it? [11:10] Or are you like many,

[11:13] who in every moment you just see everything as the happy accident [11:16] that we talked about last week? [11:19] Is that what a coincidence?

[11:22] I don’t know what God wants me to do, [11:25] so I’m just going to have to depend on my own brain here. [11:29] I’m going to have to depend on my own wisdom. [11:30] I’m going to have to depend on my own willpower. [11:33] You see, the reason that you can’t hear God is because you’re not listening.

[11:38] The reason you can’t see God working in your circumstances [11:41] is because you’re not paying attention. [11:43] Psalm 66, 5 says a very interesting thing. [11:45] The nation of Israel is recounting. [11:48] He says, come, see what God has done. [11:50] He is awesome in his deeds towards the children of man.

[11:54] And so what the psalmist does a lot of times throughout the book [11:57] is he will look backwards to see what God has done throughout history. [12:02] And the psalms that Moses writes, all of them, are songs of praise, [12:06] talking about the covenant faithfulness of God that we talked about last week [12:10] and saying how enduring his faithfulness is from one generation to the next. [12:15] He worked through all of these specific circumstances.

[12:19] But you cannot listen to what you think God wants you to do next [12:23] if you don’t know what he’s done in the past.

[12:27] I mean, isn’t that why you trust people? [12:30] You don’t just willy-nilly throw your trust on someone’s back [12:34] and say, well, I don’t know where you’ve been, I don’t know what you’ve done, [12:36] but hey, I trust you completely. [12:39] If you do, stop that. [12:41] That’s probably why things are going wrong.

[12:44] God is completely vocal to us about what he has done, [12:49] and that’s why he gives us his word, that’s why he tells us of his history. [12:54] He’s saying, come, see what I have done. [12:58] Come, pay attention to how awesome my deeds are on behalf of my people. [13:07] Because when you do that, what happens is you’ve built a foundation [13:13] upon which you can say, you know what, the Lord worked, the Lord was faithful,

[13:17] the Lord worked through Moses here, the Lord worked through Ruth here, [13:21] the Lord did this in Naomi’s life, the Lord worked through the prophets, [13:24] he worked through the priests, worked through the kings, [13:27] then he worked through Jesus, then he did this through the apostles, [13:30] and I’m looking back through church history for 2,000 years greater than that. [13:34] He’s done this work, through this work, through this work.

[13:38] So that’s not just academic stuff.

[13:41] That’s a history of covenant faithfulness, that is, people look back on and say, [13:47] I believe God will be faithful because he has been faithful. [13:51] And so what you’re seeing in Naomi’s response right now [13:56] is that she is remembering everything that she’s ever been taught. [14:02] She’s remembering that from childhood, all Hebrew children were acquainted [14:06] with the Scriptures, but Ruth wasn’t.

[14:08] Ruth’s a Moabite. Ruth was a pagan. [14:10] She’s a recent convert.

[14:14] So Naomi’s remembering all of this. [14:16] And then she’s remembering and she’s applying it, and she’s saying, [14:20] you know what, God has been working for so many years, [14:23] for so many generations, through my nation, through my people, [14:26] even in my life, I’m seeing how the death of my husband, [14:29] I’m seeing how the death of my sons, they’ve brought me to this place.

[14:32] And then she’s seeing Boaz come in. [14:34] She’s seeing that Ruth went to glean. She ended up in Boaz’s field. [14:38] She’s gleaning in his field. [14:40] Boaz gives her this great blessing of weeks worth of food, [14:44] invites her to the table, tells her, hey, hey, you don’t leave my field. [14:48] Maybe some harm will come to you if you leave my field.

[14:51] You stay in my field. Come to my table. [14:54] Dip your dinner in the wine, Passover. [14:57] You see these amazing pictures of Jesus. [15:00] And she goes back and she tells Naomi, and Naomi’s looking back [15:04] and she’s obeying God when he says, come and see. [15:07] Look at the awesome deeds that I’ve done.

[15:11] Because they’ve been for you. [15:13] And Naomi says,

[15:16] I think God has a work that he wants to do in my life right now.

[15:22] Sometimes you struggle to pay attention to what God’s doing in the present [15:27] because you are completely ignorant of what he’s done in the past.

[15:32] You see, friends, when we draw you to the word of God, [15:35] when we draw you in and say, bathe yourself in the Bible, [15:39] saturate your life in this book, [15:42] it is not just some hocus pocus. [15:44] It is to build a foundation of knowing what God has done [15:50] so that we can see and apply and say,

[15:53] this is what God probably wants to do in my life. [15:58] Naomi’s eyes are open in chapter three [16:02] in a way that they were not open in chapter one. [16:07] She’s seeing the providence of God. [16:12] Now understand, providence is a term that literally means to see beforehand. [16:17] That’s what that term means.

[16:18] And see, when we comprehend the character of God [16:22] and his love for his people the way the psalmist tells us to, [16:27] to trust God is to understand that his providence is for our good. [16:32] See, when you look at the character of God, [16:33] when you look at the work of God, [16:35] and you start talking about things like God sees beforehand,

[16:38] there’s no surprise to him, [16:40] there’s no moment that he doesn’t know is coming, [16:42] in my disappointment, I can look and say, [16:46] if I trust God, if I’ve put my faith in Jesus Christ [16:50] and he says all of these things are going to work to my good, [16:53] I trust based on his character

[16:57] that the disappointment and the tragic will lead to my good. [17:03] Because God is good. [17:05] And God wants good for me. [17:07] Therefore, in every moment, the good is being worked, [17:10] regardless of how it feels in the present.

[17:17] Friend, when you follow Jesus, [17:21] you have to have your eyes open. [17:24] You see, I don’t think the problem with most of us, [17:26] if you’re a follower of Jesus, [17:29] is that you don’t want to follow Jesus. [17:31] I think you probably want to.

[17:33] I mean, if you’re a Christian, [17:34] that’s literally like 101 of what it means to be a Christian, [17:38] is that you have a desire in you to follow Jesus. [17:41] Without that desire, [17:43] so if you’re in here this morning, [17:45] and you don’t have that desire,

[17:48] you are not a follower of Jesus, [17:49] and you need to become one. [17:52] I want you to understand that. [17:54] That desire is what it means to be a Christian. [17:56] That’s the first level. [17:58] But if you want to follow Jesus,

[18:01] the problem that you may be having, [18:03] if you can’t get the certainty that you’re following, [18:06] is that you’re trying to follow him with your eyes closed. [18:10] You’re trying to follow him [18:11] without actually looking to see where he is. [18:14] You’re trying to follow him

[18:16] while looking back at the life you once lived. [18:19] You’re trying to follow him [18:21] while keeping your eyes on everything [18:23] from the standards of this world. [18:25] You’re trying to follow him, [18:27] but in every ebb and flow of life,

[18:30] in every mountaintop and in every valley low, [18:33] you put your perspective on the present circumstance [18:37] rather than on the eternal God who’s commanding it all. [18:42] When you do that, [18:44] it is literally like putting blinders over your eyes [18:47] and then trying to walk the path following Jesus.

[18:55] How much success are you going to experience [18:58] if you go try to run down a street [19:02] that you’ve never been on before, [19:03] but you put a blindfold on to do it? [19:06] You are going to run into the first parked car.

[19:11] It’s not going to go well for you.

[19:13] Neither should you follow Jesus with your eyes closed. [19:16] You cannot do it. [19:18] You need to realize that for all of the decisions [19:21] that you need to make in life, [19:23] the most important thing that you’re going to have [19:25] is your eyes fixated on what Jesus has done,

[19:29] what Jesus is doing, [19:31] and where you think Jesus is going to go. [19:34] And you trust his providence in every moment of it. [19:37] You trust that he sees it beforehand. [19:39] You trust that he is good in seeing it beforehand. [19:42] And you follow Jesus into every one of those moments.

[19:48] Are you keenly observing where God is working in your life [19:51] so that you will know his plans [19:53] and how they affect the decisions that you have to make in life? [19:57] I mean, what if someone comes to you right now [20:04] and says, hey, tell me where God is working in your life right now?

[20:10] Oftentimes I’ll assess guys that want to start new churches, [20:14] and that’s usually the one that makes them fumble. [20:17] I’ll have guys that can read the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. [20:21] I’ll have guys with more degrees than I have, [20:23] and I’m like, why am I assessing you? [20:25] And I’ll have guys that can tell me theology backwards and forwards,

[20:29] real scholars, and you get to a point, you just look at them, [20:32] and they think you’re going to ask them about some crazy, big Greek word, [20:36] and I’ll just look at them and say, [20:37] hey, tell me right now what’s God doing in your life?

[20:42] What happened was, they start stumbling. [20:47] Well, this morning I was…

[20:52] But imagine, can you say where God’s working right now? [20:58] What’s he been doing this week?

[21:01] How has he shown himself faithful to you right now? [21:07] How is he growing you in this moment, in this day, in this month, this week, this year?

[21:15] See, if you want a real litmus test to tell you where you are in your growth as a follower of Jesus, [21:20] that’s the question. [21:23] That’s the one you need to answer, [21:25] because that’s not what determines if God is working. [21:29] That’s what determines if your eyes are open to it, [21:33] because faith sees what God is doing.

[21:36] Faith examines the moment and says, what does God want to teach me? [21:40] Faith looks at the disappointment and says, [21:43] where does God want to lead me through this hard time? [21:46] What does God want to teach me about him and myself through this tragedy?

[21:54] The lack of faith just floats from circumstance to circumstance [21:58] without looking for the handprint of God in every moment of life.

[22:07] Friend, you’re not going to know where God is going [22:11] if you haven’t paid attention to where he’s been, [22:13] where he’s been in history, but also where he’s been in your life. [22:19] But in doing that, you also need to realize that in the moment of making the types of decisions that Naomi is doing, [22:25] it’s a big decision, it’s a countercultural decision that Naomi is making,

[22:31] do you realize that there are no neutral decisions in following Jesus? [22:37] Every decision in your life affects your place in his plan. [22:42] All of them. [22:44] Are you paying attention to what he has done in scripture and what he has done in your life [22:48] so that you can make your next decision? [22:51] Because the tragedy of life is, is that many of you are going to make your next decision

[22:57] with no information from the word, with no prompting of the Holy Spirit. [23:06] And that is terrifying.

[23:09] That is the risk. [23:12] You see, what Naomi is doing is she’s charting her future by the recent events of the past [23:19] and saying, here’s where God has come, here’s where he has supplied, [23:24] here’s what he has done. [23:26] I think there’s something to this, Boaz, Ruth, we need to follow Jesus into this environment.

[23:34] You see, can you map the trajectory of where you’re going with your life right now [23:40] based on what Jesus has done in your life in the last year?

[23:45] I don’t believe many of us can. [23:48] I think we’re just using our best wisdom based on worldly circumstances to make our next decision.

[23:56] Number two this morning, understand that trusting God will always feel risky. [24:01] Always. Always. [24:04] See, most of us want somebody to come and be like, hey, trusting God will always feel like a marshmallow.

[24:11] And even if you get it wrong, you just bump from one marshmallow into the next. [24:16] And if you fall down, there’s a nice mattress there to catch you. [24:20] No, it’s scary. [24:22] It’s terrifying. [24:24] There are moments where you will feel paralyzed. [24:27] And you’re like, I don’t know if I can give this over to God.

[24:29] I don’t know if I can sacrifice this. [24:32] I know this is too much, Lord, you’re asking too much of me. [24:35] I can’t endure this. [24:37] I can’t deal with this person leaving me. [24:40] I can’t deal with this death that I’ve had to endure right now. [24:43] I can’t deal with the financial circumstances that you’re calling me to trust you in as you call me to more and more generosity, as you call me to give up more and more.

[24:51] I can’t deal with you wanting me to form relationships with people that I don’t want to form relationships with. [24:58] I can’t become the leader that you want me to become because I don’t have the ability. [25:04] I can’t. I can’t. I can’t. [25:06] There will be a hundred circumstances like that for you in the next five years if you follow Jesus. [25:11] I can guarantee it because it feels from my 15 foot view of my life at best. [25:19] Usually it’s like a three foot view.

[25:22] And I’m going to swamp.

[25:26] Every moment. [25:28] You see it that way, but faith beckons you to realize. [25:33] But the God who is calling me, the God that I’m following, he sees it all. [25:38] He maps it all. [25:40] And so when I tripped over a root here on the path of following Jesus, I trust that he had a plan for that. [25:47] When I lost the thing that I thought was the most precious to me, I see that what was actually happening is the Lord was removing an idol from my life that was keeping me from an intimacy with Jesus that I didn’t know I could have.

[26:00] You see, you trust Jesus in every moment. [26:04] And here’s what Ruth is doing. [26:05] Look in verse six. [26:06] She says, So she went down to the threshing floor. [26:08] Imagine the walk. [26:09] Ruth, the Moabite just started following Jesus.

[26:13] Naomi’s like, Hey, here, I want you to do this thing that’s totally crazy. [26:18] And she told her, I want you to anoint yourself. [26:20] I want you to cleanse yourself. [26:22] That’s what you did before a wedding. [26:25] All right. [26:26] That’s what you did before the marriage.

[26:29] And so there’s no mystery what Naomi’s telling Ruth to do. [26:33] Naomi’s telling Ruth what I tell a lot of our young people. [26:36] Go get married.

[26:39] Go find your husband. [26:40] Go find your spouse. [26:42] Put yourself out there. [26:44] Trust the Lord. [26:46] She did everything that her mother-in-law had commanded her. [26:48] Then in verse seven, it says, When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry.

[26:52] Don’t read too much into that. [26:54] All right. [26:55] He went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. [26:59] Then she came softly, uncovered his feet and laid down. [27:02] Now, in this culture, uncovering someone’s feet and laying down at their feet was not kink. [27:10] All right.

[27:11] What it was is, is it is a posture of dependence. [27:15] All right. [27:16] It is laying yourself down and saying, I am at your disposal. [27:21] I am dependent on you. [27:23] I am in need of you. [27:25] Have mercy on me.

[27:28] Okay. [27:28] It is again, just like anointing yourself was. [27:31] It is a marriage proposal. [27:34] So then, he says, At midnight the man was startled and turned over. [27:39] Behold, a woman lay at his feet. [27:41] All right.

[27:42] He was probably thinking, How much did I drink? [27:47] He said, Lighten up. [27:51] I mean, seriously. [27:52] It is a funny part of the Bible. [27:54] Deal with it. [27:56] You should laugh at the word of God.

[27:58] Heaven is going to be so disappointing to you. [28:01] God is funny. [28:03] He said, Who are you? [28:05] That is what I would say. [28:07] Then the next one would be like, How did you get here? [28:10] And she answered, I am Ruth, your servant.

[28:13] Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a Redeemer. [28:17] And there, Ruth goes off script and unknowingly. [28:21] And maybe she knew, maybe she did not. [28:23] The word is vague here. [28:24] But that is literally her saying, I want you to be my husband. [28:30] That is literally what she is saying in the original language there.

[28:33] And he said, Now imagine you are a man. [28:37] And a woman that you already thought was real pretty in the field. [28:41] She is at your feet. [28:43] She is saying, I mean, she is buttering you up. [28:46] All right. [28:46] And here is kind of the unstated stuff that we need to really look into in scripture.

[28:50] Imagine the temptation that you are probably enduring. [28:51] His first response is the right response, guys. [28:54] Prayer. [28:55] He says, May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. [29:00] You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, [29:06] whether poor or rich.

[29:07] He is like, I just hit the jackpot. [29:09] And now, my daughter, do not fear. [29:12] I will do for you all that you ask. [29:15] For all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman.

[29:22] This moment, risk, Ruth’s, Ruth risks. [29:27] How do I get that backwards? [29:29] Greatly.

[29:32] Because she is paying attention to her mother in the faith, [29:39] and to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, [29:41] to the work that God is bringing into her life. [29:43] And so she is not paralyzed by the moment, [29:47] even when the risk seems great from our perspective. [29:51] But the real risk is not listening to Jesus.

[29:53] The real risk is not being attuned to the work of the Holy Spirit. [29:56] The risk will always pay off for those who trust God. [30:00] Naomi’s repentance restored her trust in God, [30:02] made her sensitive to the move of the Spirit. [30:04] So, friend, do you want to hear God’s prompting more? [30:09] I mean, if you are a follower of Jesus, you should want that.

[30:11] You should desire that. [30:13] You should pursue that. [30:14] It should be the greatest desire of your heart [30:17] for the promise that Jesus made that the Holy Spirit would speak to us [30:22] and lead us to him. [30:23] That should be the greatest desire of your life.

[30:25] Do you want that? [30:27] Follow the path of Naomi. [30:29] Repent more. [30:32] Rearrange your life more. [30:34] Open your eyes to what God is doing. [30:37] Look for it.

[30:41] Stop looking everywhere else.

[30:47] For too many of us, our relationship with Jesus is determined by the number in our bank account.

[30:54] Our relationship with the Lord is determined by how good we feel about the relationships in our life, [31:00] by how faithful other people are to us, [31:03] by how nice other people are to us, [31:06] by how much we feel like in the moment we’re the centerpiece of God’s plan. [31:11] Your relationship with Jesus should not be based on that. [31:16] Your relationship should be, Lord, I want to know you.

[31:20] So you rearrange your life to know him. [31:22] You rearrange your life to saturate yourself with him. [31:27] So that when you find sin, you don’t dilly dally. [31:29] You understand the Word of God. [31:31] You understand what it calls you to. [31:32] So you repent of your faithfulness and you follow Jesus.

[31:36] You spend time in prayer. [31:38] When was the last time you got alone and just said, Speak, Lord.

[31:48] Speak to me. [31:50] I need to hear from you right now. [31:53] When was the last time you were driving alone and you turned the radio off and you just said, [31:56] God, I need to hear from you. [31:58] God, here’s what’s going on in my life. [32:00] God, here’s what I want.

[32:03] And here’s why. [32:05] If you’ve ever done that, do it. [32:07] Because by the end of the conversation between you and the Lord, [32:09] you actually change your request. [32:11] You’re like, well, I don’t want that anymore after all.

[32:15] You see, you will not hear from God if there’s no space for him. [32:19] You will not hear from God if there’s no repentance towards him. [32:21] You will not hear from God if all that you can listen to is everything at the 15 foot level.

[32:31] You need to be caught up in his perspective. [32:33] And the only way that you can do that is when you get down to what faith is, [32:38] to prayer, to reading the Bible, to obeying Jesus and what he has said, [32:44] what he’s made abundantly clear, so that in the moment where you need him to speak, [32:49] his voice is one that you’re familiar with. [32:52] But if his voice isn’t one that you’re familiar with,

[32:55] don’t be surprised when you struggle to hear it. [32:58] Don’t be surprised when you struggle to know what’s going on. [33:04] I mean, look at Boaz’s response. [33:06] Look at the integrity and character in the response. [33:08] Do you think that was an accident that his first response to Ruth being there, [33:13] to pray was an accident?

[33:17] Let me tell you something. [33:18] To respond like that as a man means you’ve been praying.

[33:23] It means prayer is something that you’re familiar with. [33:25] It means prayer is something that you’ve based your life on. [33:28] And so in the moment, he needed the Lord to speak, and so he started speaking about the Lord.

[33:35] The problem is, is when you need God to speak, you start talking about a whole lot of other things. [33:38] You start listening to a whole lot of other things, and the Lord is the last place that you go for advice. [33:43] The first place that you go for the cosmic genie, the last place that you go for counsel.

[33:51] That should not be the story of your prayer. [33:55] You need to obey him. [33:57] You need to build a life of integrity towards him. [34:00] And you will respond with character in a moment where many would be tempted. [34:06] Because the real risk is a faithless life. [34:10] It’s a faithless life.

[34:12] That’s the real risk here. [34:15] Look at what God says to us about risking things on faith. [34:19] He says in Psalm 149, 4, he says, [34:21] For the Lord takes pleasure in his people, he adorns the humble with salvation. [34:26] See, too many times, you look at the path that God has for you. [34:30] You look at the sacrifice that he’s calling you towards.

[34:32] You look at the greater obedience that he’s calling you to repent towards. [34:36] And you say, I don’t know if that’s going to work out to my benefit.

[34:43] What you’re really saying is that you believe that God doesn’t have your best interest at heart.

[34:51] That God has second best or third best, or God’s trying to do you bad. [34:57] God’s trying to bring something into your life that you’d be better off without. [35:01] What a statement of the character of God to make that is sinful.

[35:06] God takes pleasure in you, follower of Jesus. [35:12] Christian, God loves you. [35:15] God only wants your good. [35:18] He does not want your bad. [35:20] And in this moment, Ruth, Boaz, and Naomi are listening to God.

[35:31] You see, when you look at faith and you say, God wants me to exercise my faith. [35:38] God wants me to repent of my sin, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. [35:41] I think it’s usually because you are not building a life of faith.

[35:48] You see, Boaz thinks he’s found a really good thing. [35:50] He’s like, look, I’m not the first Redeemer in line, but I’m going to go figure out how I can be the first Redeemer in line.

[35:57] Ruth says, I found a man. [35:59] He’s really good looking. He’s a worthy man. [36:01] He’s a little seasoned, but guess what? [36:03] He’s kind of a Clooney. [36:04] And so I’m going to go after him.

[36:08] All right. [36:09] Spread your wings over me. [36:10] I want you to marry me. [36:12] I want you to be my Redeemer. [36:13] I want you to be my husband.

[36:17] See, they both knew that God was at work in the other’s life. [36:21] But maybe the problem is, is that you’re looking at your life and you’re saying I’m not following Jesus.

[36:27] God’s at work in my life, but I’m not working with his life. [36:31] See, because in Proverbs chapter 12, verse four, I think I want to expound upon just for a moment. [36:38] What’s probably going on in your life to where you’re not seeing it. [36:43] This is an excellent wife. [36:44] This is the crown of her husband. [36:45] I want to use marriage as the example because marriage is the eminent issue here.

[36:49] Boaz is saying I found the crown.

[36:57] But too often our lives are the second half of this verse.

[37:03] But she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.

[37:10] You see, friend, when you need God to work in your life and you do. [37:15] When you want God to work in your life and you do, trust me, [37:21] you need to realize that the Lord is calling you to exercise your faith in what he has done [37:27] so that you can find joy in what he wants to do. [37:30] Because when your life is the rottenness in the bones, this goes male or female,

[37:40] it’s not working out for you. [37:43] And faith doesn’t look like it’s worth it to you because you’re not building a life of faith. [37:49] You see, usually that’s the type of person that you follow Jesus when it’s convenient for you. [37:55] You listen to the Lord when you need something from him. [38:00] But that’s not what life is all about. [38:03] All of life belongs to the Lord.

[38:05] When the faithless life is the real risk, what we’re saying is that your everyday norm should not be a shame.

[38:16] Your everyday norm should not be rottenness to the Lord. [38:21] Your everyday norm should be one of pursuing faith in Jesus Christ. [38:28] But too often we look to God and we say, well, I guess I can’t have the relationship with you that other people have [38:34] because I have too many hangups, I have too much shame, I have too much guilt. [38:37] And so you just continue to rehearse the same faithlessness over and over and over and over [38:44] because you’re not finding your joy in God, you are finding your joy in the worthless things around you.

[38:52] And so you know the truth. The truth is that you’re not following Jesus at all.

[38:59] And in that case, the reason that you can’t exercise your faith is because you’re not living a life of faith. [39:08] Number three this morning, God pursues us with redemption.

[39:12] God pursues us with redemption. [39:15] I think more of you feel like rottenness in the bones than feel like, oh, I’m the worthy man or I’m the excellent wife. [39:22] I think more of you feel shame than not. [39:26] I think more of you feel that God can’t do in your life, can’t speak into your life the way that you want him to, than do. [39:35] Look at what happens in the story here. [39:39] Boaz looks to Ruth and he says, now it is true that I am a Redeemer, yet there is a Redeemer nearer than I.

[39:44] Remain tonight and in the morning. If he will redeem you, good, let him do it. [39:48] But if he will not, excuse me, if he is not willing to redeem you, then as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. [39:54] Lie down until morning. So she laid his feet until the morning, but arose before one could recognize another. [39:59] And he said, let it not be known that the woman came to the threshing floor. [40:04] And he said, bring the garment you are wearing and hold it out. [40:08] So she held it and he measured out six measures of barley and put it on her.

[40:12] Then she went into the city and when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, how did you fare my daughter? [40:17] Then she told her all that the man had done for her saying, these six measures of barley he gave to me. [40:25] And he said to me, you must not go back empty handed to your mother-in-law. [40:28] And she replied, wait my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out. [40:34] For the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.

[40:42] Here’s what I want you to take away from that.

[40:46] When you are filled with shame, when you’ve never listened to the Holy Spirit before, [40:51] when you’ve not built a foundation of knowing the actions that God has taken, [40:56] when you are brand new to this and when you’re just saying, I got to start in step one. [41:02] OK, Lord, speak. You’re going to hear crickets. [41:07] Nine times out of ten, there’s one of you that has the special weird thing going on where the spirit’s like, what do you need? [41:12] All right, that’s not the norm. All right, you’re going to hear crickets.

[41:19] Because it’s like exercising a new limb that just grew. You got to get used to it being there. [41:27] You’ve got to work it out. You’ve got to follow Jesus. You’ve got to build the foundation. [41:32] You’ve got to say, Lord, speak, and then get acquainted with how he has already spoken. [41:38] And you’ve got to get to a place where your faith is enough to say the past is not going to hold me down to the future that God has for me. [41:50] And when you have exercised that and you go to your Redeemer and Boaz here is acting just as Jesus Christ, [41:58] He’s showing Ruth, I am for you.

[42:03] And I’m going to work towards redemption.

[42:09] She goes back to Naomi. Naomi says, what happened? [42:12] She tells us a story. [42:14] Naomi is the one that’s got the foundation at this point. Naomi is the one that’s repenting at this point. [42:18] Naomi is the one that’s here in the Holy Spirit at this point. [42:21] Naomi looks to Ruth and says,

[42:25] Wait.

[42:29] [42:30] Do you know that’s what faith does?

[42:33] See, this culture has programmed you to think that acting frantically all the time is what solves things. [42:39] How’s that working out for you?

[42:42] That nerves controlling your every move is what really works things out. [42:47] You panicking when something doesn’t go your way. [42:50] That’s what will fix it, right? [42:51] No.

[42:55] You see Ruth’s like, I don’t know, this is going to turn out.

[43:00] Naomi just says, Ruth, God’s not done with the story yet. [43:07] Just wait.

[43:10] He’s going to pursue you. [43:12] Just wait. [43:14] He’s going to pursue you. [43:15] See, some of you can’t see what Jesus is doing because you’re trying to get in front of Him.

[43:21] You’re trying to go further. [43:23] You’re trying to see what’s coming before Jesus shows it to you. [43:25] Well, He’s not going to do that because there’s no trust involved. [43:29] That’s why John 6 tells us an important message for following Jesus. [43:34] See, the power is in His hand, not in ours. [43:36] This is, no one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,

[43:40] and I will raise him up on the last day.

[43:46] You see, we are not the ones that are going to redeem ourselves. [43:52] Ruth could not redeem herself. [43:54] She had to wait for her Redeemer to do the work. [43:58] And so Naomi says, now, wait. [44:00] He’s working. [44:01] It’ll be resolved.

[44:03] Trust. [44:04] Stay still for a moment and just look and wait for God to do His work [44:10] before you think you can build something better than He can.

[44:16] Every moment unfolds another opportunity to see what God is doing. [44:20] That is one of the scariest parts of life, but it’s one of the most exciting parts of life. [44:25] Waiting for God to work against my timetable is difficult. [44:30] But in those few moments where I’ve been repentant enough [44:33] and God has been gracious to grant me the wisdom to just see it, [44:39] they’ve been beautiful.

[44:40] They’ve been faith-forming moments.

[44:44] The responsibility that He places on us is to respond to His action by moving with Him. [44:52] The weakness in our faith is that we respond to every other type of stimulation [44:58] before we use the eyes of faith to see where God is moving.

[45:05] See, when you are trusting God, you become dependent on His movement.

[45:13] Naomi looks through and says, wait, God’s going to do it. [45:19] God’s going to work through Boaz. [45:22] Trust that God and His goodness for you are better than your hands [45:29] trying to continue to make things happen. [45:34] We must be still and wait for His movement. [45:37] When we have done all that God has called us to do,

[45:40] we must wait and be faithful. [45:42] And only then will we know where we are to go and what we are to do. [45:47] And so, friend, I ask you this question. [45:49] Are you dependent on the move of God or will your life be the same without it?

[45:59] That is how to know if you have your eyes open or if they are closed to the movements of God. [46:08] We are called to move with God.

[46:14] Do you need that?

[46:18] Friend, in pursuing Jesus with our lives, [46:25] may we be a people who trust Him in every moment, with everything, [46:34] and ruthlessly wait.

[46:38] As the band comes up,

[46:44] it’s weird sometimes when you read the Bible on this side of the cross. [46:48] What I mean is, is we look backwards to the cross. [46:51] We look years ago and our great anticipation is of the second coming of Jesus [46:57] when He returns to take us home. [46:59] But that’s kind of weird because when we look at a story like Ruth, [47:05] when we look at the record of this history,

[47:07] we’re looking at a period in history where they were looking forward to redemption. [47:12] So they were literally trusting that God had a plan and they were waiting for their Redeemer.

[47:21] Don’t think that many times they didn’t say, when’s He going to do it? [47:26] Why haven’t you done it yet? [47:27] Why haven’t you brought this about? [47:29] And God said, wait. [47:32] For decades, for centuries. [47:35] He said, wait.

[47:36] The time isn’t right yet. [47:37] The time isn’t right. [47:38] And I’m not going to get into it right now, but if you look at Roman culture, the time was right.

[47:45] God, at the perfect time, unveiled His complete plan of His Redeemer.

[47:52] And that’s what He’s doing for Ruth. [47:55] That’s why Naomi says, we’ve done it. [48:00] Let’s wait.

[48:03] And right now in this moment, what I want to call you towards is when we eat the bread [48:07] and drink the cup as a family of believers, [48:11] is what we’re doing is we’re saying, I celebrate that Jesus came. [48:15] I celebrate that I am redeemed. [48:17] Lord, I declare that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true [48:21] and I believe it to all those around me.

[48:23] And I’m waiting.

[48:27] I’m waiting for the Lord to take me home. [48:29] And I’m listening.

[48:32] I’m listening to follow Him on the path that will take me there.

[48:39] So believers, this morning as you come, as you eat and drink,

[48:44] proclaim that you are waiting with anticipation. [48:48] And you are listening. [48:49] Lord, lead me on the path of this life. [48:54] If you’re in here and you don’t know His voice, [48:56] if you’re in here and you don’t know the Redeemer Jesus Christ, [49:00] while the believers are coming eating and drinking,

[49:02] I’m going to ask that you go to the foyer, [49:05] exercise just that small amount of faith to step out and talk to someone [49:08] about what it means to believe in Jesus, what it means to follow Him. [49:13] You can know Him today. [49:15] He’s so gracious that He forgives us in a moment. [49:18] When you’re ready, come.