Title: WHEN THINGS GO TERRIBLY WRONG

Focus: When things go terribly wrong be sure to look for the hand of God.

Function: To encourage God’s people to draw strength from God’s providence in the midst of struggles, pain, and conflict.

Text: Ruth 1:1-22

“Never let a crisis go to waste.” This little piece of wisdom comes from the lips of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The political point behind this “wisdom” statement is for politicians to take advantage of a crisis to advance their particular agenda. Thus when something goes terribly wrong the political establishment will look for opportunities to strengthen or increase their power.

I think that the story of Ruth moves us into a different direction—a direction that says: “when a crisis occurs in our lives look for the hand of God.” The story of Naomi and Ruth tells us how God works through human circumstances and pain to accomplish his purposes. In other words, God is prone to advance his purposes through the crises in our lives.

When I look back how God used a crisis in my life almost 40 years ago to direct me, I can see God’s hand clearly in the circumstances. When I was 20 years old, I was involved in a traffic accident. One young man was killed. From that crisis in my life significant developments came about.

For example, four months after the accident I went to Canada to visit some relatives. My cousin in Canada witnessed to me and helped me put together a lot of the puzzle pieces of faith that were floating in my mind. Six months later I emigrated to Canada, where the Lord guided me into evangelistic work and teaching. 15 months later I ended up in the U.S. and began to study for ministry purposes.

And so it went. From one crisis in Rotterdam in 1971 I have learned to discern God’s hand to my present stay here at Calvary, where I may now proclaim God’s Word from the Book of Ruth, holding before us this truth: when things go terribly wrong be sure to look for the hand of God. Draw strength from God’s providence in the midst of struggles, pain and conflict.

The story of Naomi and Ruth is a moving story filled with drama and striking features. Here are a number of features that will give us insight and help us catch the message that God lays before us in the story:

1. The time element: The story begins with this phrase: “In the days when the judges ruled….” That time reference sets the stage or context of the story. For it was the time when the Israelites settled the land of Canaan. As part of his covenant with Israel, God had promised them a land of “milk and honey.” That promise was contingent upon the Israelites’ obedience to the Law and will of God.

The other side of that covenant blessing was God’s warning of divine judgment. From the book of Judges we learn that the Israelites “did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Thus we see that the time of Naomi and Ruth was a time of faithlessness, of rebellion and disobedience of God’s Word. That time reference, then, gives us some insight into the story of Ruth. Here is another feature:

2. The famine in the land: Listen to the text: “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab.” Bethlehem was a small town in a relatively fertile area of the Land of Canaan. Literally, the name Bethlehem means: house of bread. So at the very beginning of the story, we learn that there is a famine in the house of bread. Why is there no bread—not enough food—for the citizens in the house of bread?

The answer lies with God’s covenant blessings and curses. If the Israelites would obey and love and serve the Lord, they would receive blessings in the “land of milk and honey.” But if they would rebel and disobey the Lord their God, judgment would be upon the land. Famine, in the O.T. Scriptures, is a sign of God’s judgment upon the people.

Thus we see that God’s hand is disciplining the people by withholding their bread, by causing a famine in the land. Naomi acknowledges God’s hand in her plight when she said to her widowed daughters-in-law: “If I had a husband tonight and then birth to sons—would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has gone out against me!”

The famine in the land, the lack of bread in the house of bread—all point to God’s hand disciplining his people, in particular Naomi and her daughters-in law. Here is another striking feature that gives us insight:

3. The names: Elimelech“The Lord is King.” (comment). Naomi—“Pleasant,” or “Sweet.” But note Naomi’s reply to the women of Bethlehem when she returned with Ruth from Moab: “…the women exclaimed, ‘Can this be Naomi?’ ‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them. ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” Naomi vs. Mara—the contrast gives us insight into the story.

There are many more insights from the text. Take, for example,

4. The movement in the story: the flow of the story and the development in Naomi’s life goes from bad to worse. It’s a downward movement: The famine causes a crisis. Elimelech and Naomi, with their two sons, decide to go to hostile territory, Israel’s former enemy, the land of Moab. They seek prosperity outside of God’s promised land.

In Moab, Naomi loses her husband; now she is widowed. Her future is now less secure. Her sons marry Moabite women, who supposedly do not know the Lord, the God of Israel. Naomi’s sons also died. Now Naomi’s future and security is really at risk: no husband, no sons to take care of her or to tend their property in Bethlehem.

Naomi is losing everything that’s dear to her. The movement, then, is one of “things going from bad to worse.” From fullness to emptiness, sweetness to bitterness, blessings to curses—these are the impulses coursing through the story in the book of Ruth. Another striking or touching feature in that first chapter is

5. Ruth’s response of faith: When Ruth is confronted with the choice to return to her hometown in Moab or to go with Naomi to Bethlehem in Judah, Ruth casts her lot with the God of Israel, with the God of Naomi. Ruth abandons Moab and its gods; Ruth seeks her future and her prosperity with the Israelites and their God. In contrast to Orpah, Ruth binds herself to God’s covenant people and to God himself saying: “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go,, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

Here we see that Ruth looks up to the providential hand of Israel’s covenant God. In faith, she yields herself to God and his people and binds herself to God’s covenant with his people. Here is one more striking, literary feature of the text

6. Glimmers of hope: When Naomi hit rock bottom—no more husband; no more sons; no hope for the future; no security in sight—she heard some good news of God’s providential care toward his people. Listen (vs. 6) “When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.” In other words, Naomi gleans a glimmer of hope as she looks for the hand of God.

Note how the inspired writer of the book of Ruth holds before us those glimmers of hope. Whereas the movement in chapter 1 is from bad to worse, we notice at the very end this literary stroke of genius, a stroke of hope: (vs. 22) “So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.” The chapter began with a reference to despair: there was a famine in the land. No bread in the house of bread. The chapter ends with a reference of hope: the barley harvest was beginning. Bread, food, hope, prosperity is around the corner.

When things go terribly wrong be sure to look for the hand of God; draw strength from God’s providence in the midst of struggles, pain, and conflict. Do not despair. God is our helper, our Savior, our Guide.

Learn from Naomi and Ruth. Follow in their footsteps. When things go terribly wrong,

1). Look up to the Lord: a. Avoid solving things quietly by using your own judgment or following your own desires.

-Elimelech and Naomi decided to leave Bethlehem; but not all citizens in Bethlehem left. Why not?

b. Be sure to ask yourself some critical questions:

-What is the Lord saying to us/me in our present circumstances?

-What is the Lord calling us/me to do now in this difficult time?

-What is the Lord teaching us/me at this point in my journey of life?

2) Look for God’s hand:

-God’s providence is a major theme in the book of Ruth.

-Looking for God’s hand will help us:

“We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in (God’s) hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved.” (Lord’s Day 10)

3). Cast Your Lot in the hands of God:

-Take your cues from Ruth

-Seek refuge in God’s promises realized in Jesus Christ.