All right, we're in the book of Ruth, and I want you to turn to chapter 3, if I didn't tell you that already. Ruth in chapter 3. Now, this is... She's been out gleaning, remember? All the whole harvest time, she's been gleaning. And she gleaned in Boaz's field, and then when she came back the first day, and Naomi's like, whoa, you've been gleaning in Boaz's field? Well, you better stick in his field, because he's a relative, and so forth and so on. And so she does, through the wheat harvest, through the barley harvest, and the Lord graciously provides for Ruth and for Naomi through the gracious benevolence of Boaz, and he's kind of been watching all this going on. Well, we get to the end, and that's where we are, that's where chapter three begins. Then Naomi, our mother-in-law, said unto her, my daughter, Shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold, he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing-floor. Watch thyself therefore and anoint thee and put thy raiment upon thee and get thee down to the floor but make not thyself known unto the man until he shall have done eating and drinking. Having dinner basically, okay. And it shall be when he lieth down that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie and thou shalt go in and uncover his feet. and lay thee down, and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.' And she said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me, I will do." Father, would you help us, please, tonight as we continue in our study of Naomi and how you worked in her life? Father, would you pray for the Davis family? And we ask you might help them. They're trying to start a new church. And folks have been led to the Lord, and that's exciting. They have a need of some kind of facility, possibility to be able to baptize the converts they have. And so we pray for Brother Davis, give him wisdom, help him to be able to be a good help to the national pastor, Pastor Gideon, as they're trying to establish this church in a solid foundation. And we ask God to bless their efforts We think even of something so it may seem so mundane as their electrical power but that can be quite a distress and in the very very hot and humid summertime there. And so we pray you would just guide and direct in that and give them wisdom as how to how to address that whether it's the solar backup or whatever needs to be done. Would you guide and direct and help them father please. We also pray for Brother Miller and his family and thank you for the many years they spent there in Bolivia and the folks they were able to influence and be with them now as they transition back to the States and sort of settle into their home church. And I pray you give wisdom and direction as to whatever future ministry, Father, if that's your desire for Brother Mike and his family, just guide and direct in that, please. Father, we do think of the prayer request tonight, and we pray for the unspoken. There are several folks who have needs, and Father, quite likely all of us have things that are burdening us that we haven't even mentioned. and shared with others, but you know what those are. And so we ask that you'd be gracious and give wisdom and direction, especially in those who indicated that need. Just guide and direct in their life and give them direction from your word and encouraging faith through the power of your spirit, please, and help them in those issues. Father, we do pray for Bridget's cousin, Carol Ann, and just we thank you that even even though sort of the the impetus of of the fruit that we're seeing was the loss of a loved one we're thankful that her brother runs in heaven that's a joy but then through that and the service and all that took place there are folks now who are going to church and they're They've made some changes in their life, and I pray you'd bless and continue to work and guide. And Father, even in others who were there and heard the message, we pray for Caroline's son, Matt, and you know exactly what the needs are in his life, and so we ask you to guide and direct there and work for your glory in those items. Be with Mandy and Joe as they're traveling, coming back. Give them safety. Help us now, I pray, as we come to your word, in Jesus' name, amen. Tonight, we finalize our study on Naomi. No doubt there's always more that could be said about her and her journey of faith, but it seems like it's a good point for us to kind of bring this to a close, as we're just trying to hit some high points. And, It's kind of, because we've talked about what started it all, and then the last time we were here in Ruth, there was like a shift, there was like a turning point in Naomi's life. And she began to see, oh, God hasn't forgotten me. I'm gonna be okay that kind of an attitude so Tonight I want to then move forward as we think about the wanderer or the backslider or whatever kind of term you want to use How does that person come back? Is there a process or say a pattern I that might facilitate that return? And I would say, yes. And I think it's illustrated here as we're going to close up looking at Naomi's life. I want to share with you another quote from Dr. King, who wrote that little book. Actually, it's kind of a big, fat book. It's short but very fat, old book. He says, how may how many are ready to exclaim, rest for my soul I long to find. And I think we could agree with that. All of us at one time or another were in need of rest for our soul. He says, when we have been harassed and driven by the pressure of outward cares, or burdened and made sad by disappointment and afflictions, or made to see and feel the heavier burden of inward sin, The thing for which we ask is rest. And then he continues in a little bit and says, to be freed from burdens and toils and human sorrows is in itself their view to be happy. And that would be a happy time, wouldn't it? For the struggles to end, the affliction to end, et cetera. And so that's what I want us to think about tonight. Point number one, restoration. Restoration. That restoration is the Lord's gracious application. So as we think about Naomi and what happened in her life, it's not like she woke up one morning in Moab and said, boy, I better get back with the Lord. At least it's not recorded, is it? No. And so, what that illustrates for me is when someone, whether that's ourselves or someone we know, you know, kind of strays from the Lord and whatever that may be, and that looks differently in perhaps each one's life, typically, we don't wake up and say, oh, I think I'm gonna go back. All on our own. God's involved in that process. because we belong to him and he loves us. And he's not willing to leave us. Think about, because even as I said that, what came to my mind was the story of the prodigal son. Because it says he came to himself and says, boy, what servant of my father's is like this eating the pig's food? I'm paraphrasing a little bit. I'm going to get up and go back to my father. You say, oh, well, see, he did it all on his own. I don't think so. God was working providentially in the circumstances of his life. And all the wealth and riches that he had when he left home, and he thought, man, I'm set, I'm good. But he did something rather foolish and wasted it all. And it was so wasted, he ends up working for a farmer, a pig farmer, which was like completely taboo for a Jewish boy. I mean, pigs are unclean, literally, and for them, you know, religiously. So for a Jewish young man to be feeding the pigs and wanting to eat the pigs' food, he had gone way down, hadn't he? Yeah, way down. Don't you think the Lord was in charge of kind of how that happened? Yeah, I think so. I don't believe in circumstance, you know, coincidence or luck or any of that kind of stuff. That's just either it's an excuse for being at the bottom end of the stick or it's rationalization why you're better off than someone else. I don't believe in those things. So my point is the Lord worked in his life. Now there has to come a point when you do make a decision. You're going down this road and God's working in you and working around you until finally you're like, this is not good. I how in the world did I end up way over here in all of this and we have to look to God to help us because in and in and of ourselves we can't you know that's why secular based you know recovery programs are bankrupt but by that I don't mean financially bankrupt I mean they have no hope Repeat offense is like common. Very common. Whatever kind of struggle somebody's in and they go to some sort of rehabbing thing, you know, and it's like... Okay, so they go to this rehab center and they get all dried out, right? They're drunk. And so they get dried out and they leave. What happens to them? Yeah, before long, there they are. They're drunk again. And back to the rehab center, it's just kind of like a rotating, you know, that's like the only kind of recycling that actually is going on it seems in our culture. Is we go from crud to clean, to crud to clean, back and forth all the time. But it's when we look to the Lord, and we rest in Him, then He can give us victory. If God cannot give you victory, then even as a Christian, we don't have any hope, do we? We have no message for the world that's broken because we're just as bad off as they are. But the Lord does give victory, okay? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever that thing is somebody's dealing with, okay? Whether it's, you know, Whether it's an emotional thing, whether it's a financial thing, whether it's an addiction thing, whatever it is, God can give us victory. And that's the hope we have. That's important. So I think it's important for us to recognize In this whole restoration thing, God, in his grace, is applying things. Now, that doesn't mean he's like, oh, that's my child. I'm going to shield them from these problems. No, his grace might be, oh, that's where you want to be. How's that? You like that? You say, yes sir, God wouldn't, you want a bat? Because when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they took one bite. And what happened? Plunged, yeah, the boot, right out of the garden, they got cursed, and so did you. The consequences of their one bite of whatever fruit that was, it was pretty harsh, wasn't it? And then the Lord put an angel there with a flaming sword. You can let your imagination kind of run wild with that, but they weren't allowed back in. And you say, well, that was harsh. No, that was grace, actually. God in his grace brings this judgment. When David messes around with Bathsheba and David gets judged, what happens? The baby dies. The little baby boy dies. And David's basically cursed and he never recovers from that. Because his sons rebel, he has problems with Joab even more than he had before and it's terrible. Now he was forgiven and relationship was restored with God. But in God's grace, God judged him. God's judgment is an act of grace because it opens our eyes. It's just like kids. If children are not disciplined, what will happen? They'll run amok. You parents who have young children know exactly what that is. And so, I didn't appreciate it when I was like Stone's age When dad would take off the belt, bend over, son, it's like, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you. He's like, dad, you're a liar. Because that hurts. It really stings, you know. Man, he'd lay into me. Whip, whip, whip. And I'd start crying. He'd say, you better be quiet. You're going to get some more. I did not appreciate that then, but I do now. I appreciate that now. And the Lord chastens his children because he loves them. He exercises his grace in chastening us and judging our sins in the present. And we may not like it, but you know what, if all these difficult things Just flip back to chapter one quickly so that we remember Okay? Now, don't turn to Jeremiah 531, but you could look that up later, but he's talking about judging the nation of Judah and the priests and so forth and how they're all messed up. But at the end of that verse, it says, and my people love to have it so. That's our sin nature. Our sin nature loves to satisfy itself. Loves that. So in chapter one just to remember what happened there was a willful choice to wander that eliminate made that choice. And there's a great lesson we don't have time for the huge lesson other than the choices you make are going to touch more than just you. They will touch more than you. Eliminate makes a choice and it touches his whole family. His whole family. It touched Naomi in such a way that after he passes away, she's willing to stay. Maybe it's because her sons are there, but it seems to imply that her sons get married after Eliminic passes away. I don't know if that's exactly so but it seems to be that way. So now our sons are married and it's fine. But then even later on not only is there a willingness to remarry. I mean verse 8 remember she's going to tell her two daughter-in-laws to go back to paganism. And that doesn't make sense. And then chapter 1 ends with this whining lament in verse 20. Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara, because God's dealt bitterly with me. Remember, that's kind of where she's at. Now, I'm not putting all the blame on her, but that is the status of where she's at. Now, maybe that's where she's, I mean, we can trace it all the way back to Elimelech. Our study's not about him, but anyways, that's where she's at. Psalm 119.67 says, Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now, what's implied in that is there's been some affliction. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now, so that implies there's been a shift and now there's like, but now there's been affliction. Have I kept thy word? The affliction actually was helpful. It kind of got David back on the right path. So what's gonna be Naomi's reaction to the affliction? Hmm. Let me read you another verse out of Psalm 119, and it's verse 176. 176. I don't have this one memorized. There we go. And David, David says. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Listen to what he says. He's speaking to God. Seek thy servant. For I do not forget thy commandment. He had to come back to God. He had to ask God to seek him. God works to kind of bring things around. So how is Naomi going to respond? She could respond with basically what she says in chapter 1 there. Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara. I went out full and God brought me home and she could have stayed bitter. And some people that happens to them. I mean we're talking God's people. Sometimes God's people have very hard difficult things happen to them and they become bitter Instead of responding and returning to the Lord he's allowed these things in Can the devil do anything to you without God's permission No so even the difficult things as difficult as they are are God has allowed that in our life. I'm not saying that we ought to like it. I don't like it when bad things come into my life. But it's not like the devil's more powerful than the Lord, is he? No. But remember, if we focus on our problems, that becomes the only thing we can see. And then it feels like we're overwhelmed and we're abandoned even though we are not. So she's going to have to respond to this difficulty of she's lost her husband, now she's lost her sons, and she even tried to run away back home all by herself so she could have a really big pity party. Her one daughter-in-law loves her so much, she won't let that happen. Praise the Lord for people who will interject into our lives. Even in times when we are pushing them away, the Lord sends people to help us. So, I thought about this. Can we say, I deserve better than this because... Somehow, because of, you know, I'm qualified for better stuff because of the trials and afflictions of life. I should get better. I should have better stuff, or easier times, or more comfort, or whatever. Or maybe I deserve better because I've suffered enough of the consequences of sin. Maybe even somebody else's sin. I've suffered enough. I shouldn't have to suffer anymore. Or, I deserve better because I have given all the activity of service to my God. God owes it to me. Can we say that in whatever circumstance? No, we can't say that. Not at all. I remember Jeremiah himself, he was like, man, this is, it's kind of like Jeremiah says, God, you lied to me. I've been preaching hard all this time and look what I got me, I'm in prison. Fine, I'm done. I'm zipping the lip. It didn't take very long and Jeremiah says, but your word was like fire in my bones, I just couldn't shut up about it. He was forced. No we can't say that can we? No. Hebrews 13 5 says let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. For he has said. This is what Jesus has said. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now when we're in the midst of very painful hard times whatever that may be. Those seem like empty words. Don't they? Sure they do. Sure they do. And so what we have to cling to is the truth of what he said, not the feelings of our circumstances. We have to cling upon the truth. that as horrible as it is where I'm at, God is with me. He has not forgotten. He is with me. Now, so all that's just laying the groundwork for the shift, which would come now. Back to chapter three, I want you to notice something here. There is a distinct difference. So point number two, participation. The saints' grateful actions. Listen to how Naomi's words have changed. How was it before? It was, you know, the Lord brought me home empty. I went out full and now I've come home empty. It's not fair. God's afflicted me. And then, you know, Ruth says to Naomi, let me now go to the field and glean. Okay. Did Ruth, excuse me, did Naomi know who Boaz was? Yes. So why didn't she go to Boaz right away? As soon as she got home. Yeah, probably pride, a little embarrassment. It's like I don't want her to admit where I'm at, but. But after a while, see, Ruth's gracious care for her mother-in-law starts to break down that barrier. She has to admit, I need help. And here's Ruth, she's providing that help, and now, wow, oh, you just happen to be in Boaz's field. And we know that wasn't a coincidence. And Boaz is not, he's not like, I ain't helping her. Eliminate, never should have took his family out of there. I mean, he could have been like that, but he wasn't, was he? He was gracious and kind and provided. So listen to now Naomi's words and how there is an obvious shift of, well, let me just read it again. Then Naomi, her mother-in-law said unto her, This is to Ruth. My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee? The focus of her life shifts off of her problems and now she's focusing on the needs of Ruth. That it may be well with thee. Not that it may be well with me, but that it may be well with thee. See, the saint has to respond to God's working, whether that's affliction or whatever God's doing. In this case, there's a lot of affliction and hardship, okay? But whenever we've kind of drifted, strayed, walked away, whatever, you know, whatever the case happens, but we find our place Ourself in a place not as close to God as we ought to be and now God works in our life to kind of get us to open our eyes and maybe see the need to turn and What what happens the grateful response is now God's been so gracious to me in spite of and whatever How can I be a benefit to the other person I Her focus shifts, doesn't it? It shifts away from herself onto her daughter-in-law. Because how is life going to be for Ruth if, say, Naomi passes away? She's a Moabite girl in Israel. How well is that going to be for her? Not good, which is probably why in chapter one, she's telling her daughter-in-law to go back, which still is not good that, you know, go back to paganism, but at least go back to your own culture, go back to your own people. But now Naomi realizes Ruth has given herself to care for me. But at some point, I'm not going to be here. I need to shift the focus of my life. Instead of whining, complaining, or lamenting my circumstances, now that I recognize what God's doing in his providential care, I need to step in. There's some things I need to do. I need to do. I want to find rest for you, Ruth. So here's what we're gonna do. Now why is it Naomi saying this? Because this is not Ruth's culture. That's not what they did in the Moabite culture. They must have done something else. But in the Jewish culture when we understand from the whole story you know the kinsman then was responsible for the widow of his brother or maybe his cousin depending on you know all the family relationship connections whatever it was. He was responsible. He had an obligation to buy the if there was land and there was no male to inherit that land and the kinsman redeemer was able to purchase that land. But then he was responsible to marry the widow. And so Naomi's like this is the answer right here. Right in front of me. She has a resolved to act rather than just accept her circumstances. She could have just stayed a poor widow dependent upon gleaners the rest of her life. And sadly, sometimes that's what we do. is we simply accept where we are and we become dependent upon the benevolence of others. Not just in a financial sense necessarily, but you know it's, oh woe is me, I'm never going to get ahead, I'm never going to have victory, I'm just... And we just accept where we are. Rather than acting to change the circumstances. But notice, please, she had to ask. The kinsman redeemer was quite able to do everything that was necessary. And he was aware of all the circumstances, was he not? Sure. But he doesn't do anything until she asks. She has to ask. The Lord's not willing that any should perish. He actually wants everyone to get saved. But you have to ask. You have to ask. He's not going to save us against your will or without you even asking for it. He wants us to ask. It's that way for salvation. I think it's that way for everything else in life. He's quite willing and many times he is working on the edges, I understand. But notice the, we're looking at the pattern of restoration. That there was a time when she recognizes but then she has to react to the circumstances and quit looking at herself and quit feeling sorry for herself and all of that. And she's got to ask. Her rest, because she's talking about this rest, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well for thee? So in seeking rest for her daughter-in-law, she's actually going to get rest for herself. But that's not her goal, that's not her motivation. Because she's looking at someone else. But that's going to come as like an extra blessing, a bonus, if you will. Man, not only did I help them, but by helping them, God's blessed me by being a blessing to someone else. That's a great thing Romans 12 10 be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love in honor preferring one and see we got to get our eyes off ours I think it's like 40 times in the New Testament in Paul's writings and some in the Gospels This phrase one another love one another forgive one another be kindly affection one to another preferring one another it's repeated multiple multiple times and We have to get our eyes off ourselves. We have to get our eyes off of our problems. That's not to deny the problems or diminish the problems. We've got to get our eyes on the Lord and if we look at the Lord and look through his eyes we're going to see the needs of others. Okay. Galatians 5.13. Wow. That brings us to point number three. Exaltation. Exaltation. The change of focus and her life gave her direction for the force of her actions. It wasn't doing to make it better for me. That's selfishness, isn't it? I don't think the Lord's against us improving our circumstances necessarily. But if we've been in a condition where we're just looking at ourselves like I went out full and now I'm back empty. Don't call me Naomi, call me Mara, because God's been bitter to me and it's been hard. She's just looking at herself. So I'm not saying that to say that somehow, you know, fine, you're getting paid minimum wage, you're a serf and so you have to stay there the rest of your life. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is in the pattern of Restoration from a position of wandering or whatever, drifting from God. Part of that is, you're gonna have to get focused away from whatever the bad circumstances are you're dealing with. And see, how can I serve others? So the change of focus brings direction to the force of our actions. There's a bigger reason for me to live for others. It's not just to get better for me. God can use me to impact the lives of others. Her burden was turned to blessing. Notice chapter four. Let's see here. Chapter 4, verse 10, they're talking about Ruth the Moabitess, they're talking to Boaz, et cetera. Verse 13. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife, and he went in unto her, and the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son. Notice the next verse. And the women said unto Naomi, not to the mother, but to the grandmother. Blessed be the Lord, which hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name may be famous in Israel, and he shall be unto thee. Who is the thee a reference to? Naomi, a restorer of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age, for thy daughter-in-law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him." That wouldn't have happened in Naomi's life if they hadn't gone to Moab, and the lemonade died, and her two sons died, and she had to come back empty. This would not have been sad. If Naomi stayed bitter when she got home and said, I don't want to know where you gleaned today. I'm embarrassed we have to even do that. She wouldn't have known it was Boaz, would she? And she wouldn't have she wouldn't have given some instruction to Ruth about how this whole process of the kinsmen redeemer supposed to work. And she would have stayed. The poor widow dependent upon gleaners the rest of her life. This great burden, and it was a burden that is a burden. Again, we're not diminishing the hardness of the difficulties we go through in life. They are hard and they are real. But it's up to us how we're going to react with those difficulties. In Naomi's case, it came to the point where she had to realize what God was doing, but it wasn't enough just to recognize it, she had to react. And by reacting positively, going back toward the Lord, what was all a burden, and I don't doubt that she would maybe reminisce about her sons and her husband, that there wasn't sadness in that, and there wasn't still, I don't know that the grieving process really ever ends. That would probably fly in the face of modern psychology, you gotta go through seven stages of grief and then, boop, you're okay. I don't think that's true. I think that's some psychobabble nonsense that's made up. Because when I think about my grandma, who passed away when I was just a little boy, I'm still sad. But you know, without all that burden, there wasn't the opportunity for a blessing. Not just a blessing in the present, where she's holding the grandbaby. But now she's in the lineage of Jesus Christ. She couldn't see the future, could she? She couldn't see it. And it never would have been if she hadn't reacted appropriately to God's affliction and God's providential care and direction in her life. And I think that's the same for us. We don't see the future. We can't see it, can we? And I'm not responsible. It's not like, oh, I'm gonna miss out on my future blessing. I think that's the wrong attitude. It's like, you know what? I need to do the right thing right now. I just need to do the right thing. And I can trust God with the future, with whatever that may be. Bridget was recently reading a biography on Jonathan Edwards. And in there, which is kind of well known, it's quite documented on Jonathan Edwards' descendants. How many college presidents and senators and vice presidents, you know, et cetera. I mean, very influential, positive impacting people in our history as a nation. In the time that Jonathan Edwards lived there was another guy in town and I have forgotten his name but he was a drunkard. A terrible drunkard. And they tracked his descendants too. And guess what they were? Drunkards and drug addicts and murderers and prisoners. Neither one of those men could see the future. But we affect the future by what we do today. And while we don't know what the future is, I can do the right thing right now. And that's what I need to do. That'll turn the burden into a blessing. What does Jesus say? We've looked at this before. Matthew 11, 28. Life got some labor and some heavy laden burdens in your life? We all got something, or had something, or we're about to get something. Jesus says, and I will give you rest. He's the rest. He's the rest that we need. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your love and grace and the truth of your word. Help us. Just to recognize as we read a story that's probably very familiar to us And yet we can learn some lessons for us about a journey of faith that it might be a journey that's worthy of you. Would you help us in those things, please? Guide and direct now, give us safety as we go our separate ways. Once again, we lift before you the many requests and ask for your care and provision, and would you work for your glory and help us, please? Blessed now in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, folks. You are dismissed.