1.  Ruth 1:7-22

2. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. 8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the L ORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the L ORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

3. 11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 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 L ORD ’s hand has turned against me!” 14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her. 15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

4. 16 But Ruth replied, “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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the L ORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her. 19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”

5. 20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the L ORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The L ORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.” 22 So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning.

6.  Question: how hopeless or desperate does the situation have to be, before God can help you?  Answer: anytime you surrender to Him  Poem: It depends whose hand it’s in

7.  There was a famine in the land of Judah – town: Bethlehem  Naomi, husband & two sons moved to another country – Moab  There Naomi’s sons marry  Naomi’s husband – dies  10 years later Naomi’s two sons – dies  Widowed and no more sons, and hearing that in Judah (her home) had bread – she goes back home

8.  When things are hopeless and desperate, you have to make a choice in what to do next  Naomi chose to go home  The two daughter in laws wanted to go with Naomi  But Naomi said to them to go back to their own families and perhaps remarry (as they were still young enough)  Orpah went back, but Ruth stayed

9.  Ruth has lived with Naomi (her mother in law) for 10 years and must have ‘discovered’ something  Ruth saw kindness in Naomi – “go back to your family…”  Ruth saw faith in spite of hopeless in Naomi – “I’m going back to Judah…”  What kind of faith are we talking about here?  Do you think Naomi kept the Sabbath?  Do you think Naomi still prayed to God?  Do you think Naomi still went to church?

10.  YES – Naomi would!  And Ruth saw that and Ruth’s response to Naomi was:  16 But Ruth replied, “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. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the L ORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”  Ruth discovered faith in God (on her own)

11.  Naomi, a Jew, would have placed her trust in God  Ruth, a foreigner, placed her trust in God  Us, follower’s of Jesus Christ, in whose hand’s are we?  John 10:28-29 - 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

12.  So they go back to Judah, the town of Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley season  Experience can make you bitter  Naomi = pleasant, but now Mara = bitter (v.20-21)  Has Naomi lost her faith? Maybe.  But Ruth hasn’t lost her faith (2:2-3) as they still needed to eat

13.  WOW – Ruth is loyal to a fault (2:10-12)  But loyalty means nothing, unless it has at it’s heart the absolute principle of sacrifice  Loyalty can be described as LOVE  Love means nothing, unless it has at it’s heart the absolute principle of sacrifice  What mother doesn’t know this or have experienced this over and over again  What parent doesn’t know this  God knew – John 3:16  Jesus fulfilled it in the Garden of Gethsemane & on the cross

14.  When you face the unknown, you need faith  Ruth took a leap of faith and God provided. More specifically God held Ruth in His hand when she lept  My family’s story  We were redeemed, like Ruth was redeemed (read the rest of the chapters in Ruth)

15.  God can use all (or any) situation you face to bring about His plan for your life  Jeremiah 29:11 - 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the L ORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Romans 8:28 - 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  And God redeemed Ruth (through Boaz) and redeemed her further through the line of David to the Messiah (see Matthew 1)

16.  Life is just too hard and overwhelming?  It’s hopeless and I don’t know what to do?  There’s nothing bitter sweet – its all bitter.  Allow God to redeem you  Allow His Spirit to dwell in you  Know that you are held by God  And He has you in mind for redemption.