Speaker 1: 0:00

Now, today, I want to talk to those who might be disappointed. In the season of life you're in, things may not have gone the way you would hope. Things may not have gone the direction that you were thinking. For many of you, it's not that you don't believe in God, or it's not that you don't believe God is going to be faithful to you, but things just haven't panned out the way you hope. Maybe you're having a hard time seeing the goodness of God in your life. Maybe you're having a hard time seeing the goodness of God in your life, maybe having a hard time trying to understand where God is taking you or what things God is wanting from you. For some of you, you may hope that this season of your life you will finally be financially strong, that you could be a blessing to people, but you're still struggling financially. For some of you, you dreamed of having a God-honoring marriage, but your dream has been put on hold or worse yet. For some of you it feels like it's turned into a nightmare. Some of you thought by this time in your life you'll be happy and content, have a great ministry or a great career, be full of joy. Instead, you feel lonely or anxious or depressed, if you're hurting and maybe you feel a little hopeless, if you're feeling like man, I'm not sure where my next step Today. I want to encourage you that God is able, that God is able, and I want to be honest with you. Sometimes I'm on this stage and I'm preaching with faith and I'm preaching with everything inside of me, but on the inside, god, I'm like where are you? I need you. We all get to that place in our life where we're like God, where are you in this and can we trust you? Can we trust you? And so what I want to do today, what I want to do, I want us to, as we end our summer Bible study, looking at the book of Ruth. I want us to see how Ruth went from chapter to chapter, learning how to trust in God. And I want to give us some backstory today, if you're new with us or just in case you forgot, if you remember, in chapter one, ruth hit rock bottom. She and Naomi lost both of their husbands, they were widowed and they had no job, no means of financial support, they had no provision and they really had no hope. Their hope was gone.

Speaker 1: 2:13

We would say in chapter one that Ruth experienced heartbreak, that she experienced heartbreak. She experienced loss in a very, very deep and real pain. But then she made a decision. She made a decision. She decided to leave her homeland of Moab and leave the false god of Moab and follow Naomi to Bethlehem to worship the one true God. She made a decision. That was a tough decision and in chapter two, after making that decision, we see that she worked and she waited, and she worked and she served and instead of selling her body, like many women would have been forced to do in her situation, she went to the field and she gleaned and she worked.

Speaker 1: 3:00

And then she met a guy named Boaz. Come on and she served, faithfully, waiting on God, and Boaz. Boaz asked her to Chipotle and they had what appeared to be almost like a little date. She got pretty excited. She said maybe this is the guy, maybe this is the one, maybe he's going to be our kinsman, redeemer, maybe he'll redeem me. He's an honorable man, a wealthy man, a man of standing. And then, after a great first date, he ghosted her. She's like what did I do? Did I do something wrong? Was I just overthinking?

Speaker 1: 3:33

So in chapter three, we see that Ruth does a few things she initiates, she surrenders and then she trusts in God. She initiates, she surrenders and she trusts God. She puts herself in the path of Boaz and a very odd story at the foot of his bed. And last week we discovered that Boaz actually does redeem her and he marries her and God blesses her and together they have a son named Obed, which means servant of God. And in chapter four we see God's goodness when she is redeemed by a man of God, she is restored by the blessings of God and all the community, all of the community, starts rejoicing and celebrating the goodness of God.

Speaker 1: 4:16

And her journey was chapter by chapter, from one to two to three to four, and there was times where she waited and there was times where it was hard and there was times that expectations went high and expectations went low. And in this journey of trying to discover God she learned a lot. Last week I'll pick up where we went, where we were last week. Can you give it up one more time for Brandy Freeman who preached last week, led us through Bible study? She did a fantastic job.

Speaker 1: 4:50

But do you remember Boaz? He wanted to redeem Ruth, but there was another relative who was more closely related and the author of the book doesn't even give him a name, doesn't even give him, doesn't even give him a name. He's Mr no Name, his name is John Doe, and they give him no name. And Boaz goes and meets Mr no Name and basically works his plans and makes a deal that he can marry Ruth and provide for her protector and bless her as her kinsman, redeemer. And then he does, and he does this at the city gate, he does that at the place of business and the elders pray this prayer.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Check out this prayer right here. I'm going to paraphrase it a little bit. In Ruth 4.11, it says this May the Lord make Ruth like a woman from the whole nation of Israel descendant. May you prosper, be famous in Bethlehem. See the elders pray this one prayer of faith and we see from this one prayer of faith, we see that one prayer resulted in a changed life, a changed family and ultimately, ultimately, a changed legacy that impacts us to this very day. One prayer and I got to say something about one prayer.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Never underestimate what God can do through responding to one prayer. Never underestimate what your prayers do. Never underestimate how God loves to hear your voice and how God loves to respond to you Never underestimate it and don't, at the same time, overpopulate your brain with notifications from your smartphones that you can't hear the voice of God speaking to you. See, we can't underestimate the prayers, how God responds to prayers. Some of you may be stuck right now and you may be one prayer away from the blessing that God wants to bring to your life. We actually see the answer to this prayer in Ruth, chapter 4. It says this so Boaz took Ruth into his house and she became his wife when he slept with her. Uh-oh, okay, the Lord check this out. The Lord enabled her to become pregnant and she gave birth to a son. The Lord enabled her. The Lord enabled her to become pregnant and give birth.

Speaker 1: 7:06

When we see one verse as an answer to a prayer, that clearly demonstrates how God I want you to get this how God can take years of brokenness and heartache and pain and change it in a moment. Because we can't forget, because when I say years of brokenness, we have to remember that Ruth and Naomi, and change it in a moment. Because, because we can't forget, because when I say years are broken, is we have to remember that Ruth and Naomi experienced 10 years of misery in Moab, 10 years of pain. In other words, some chapters last longer than others. Some chapters last longer than others. Some pains feel like they might not go away, but we rejoice in the Lord, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. We rejoice in him. Then she makes one decision. She decides to turn from Moab and turn to the God of Israel, to return to Bethlehem. Then watch what God does.

Speaker 1: 8:04

According to this verse, the Lord enabled, who enabled, the Lord enabled, who brought it about? The Lord brought it about. And I love this verse because, even if you read it in different translations, it goes like this In the NIV it says the Lord enabled. In the ESV, the Lord gave. In the CSB, the Lord granted. And the GNT, the Lord blessed. No matter how you say it, the Lord did it. No matter how you say it, god is going to do it. And who is God? He is a giving God, he is a granting God, he is enabling God and he is a blessing God. God enables.

Speaker 1: 8:39

For you, you might have a different translation of the verb that you would use for your life story. For you, you might say the Lord provided, the Lord healed, the Lord answered, the Lord restored, the Lord opened the door when it was shut. The Lord proved himself faithful and the Lord made a way when there seemed to be no way, and it's the Lord who enables Whatever you're facing today. I just came to tell some people. I kind of want to spark some faith in people today. I kind of like, if you're at the gym and I'm your trainer today, I'm telling you you can do one more sit up today. I'm telling you you can do one more rep today. I want to spark some faith because I want to let you know, no matter what your circumstances have tried to tell you, no matter what those negative people have tried to speak over you, no matter what your fear or your anxiety, no matter what story it tries to tell you, your God, our God, is able to do exceedingly. Our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ever ask, think, dream or imagine. Come on, I got to spark some faith in here today because he is able and check this out.

Speaker 1: 9:54

Paul says this. The Apostle Paul says this Now to God, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power. That is at work outside of us, at his work, that's over there somewhere At his work, that when he finally changes that situation, then things are going to be good. No, no, his work within us. He's able to do something within us. And, friends, I got to tell you this God can change everything around you, but if you don't change your heart, it's not going to matter. He is far more interested in the transformation of your heart, far more interested in that. So he is able. Whatever you need, god can do it. God can do it even more and he can do it even more.

Speaker 1: 10:40

But I know what some of you guys are thinking right now, because I've been thinking it more. But I know what some of you guys are thinking right now because I've been thinking it If he's able, if he can, why didn't he? Can we get real at church today? If he's able, if he can, then why didn't he? Why didn't he come through? Why didn't he help with this? Why didn't he do this, guys, guys, because if we can't be real, like, our purpose on Sunday morning is to create an environment for you to be with Jesus, and when you're being with Jesus, that's just not like oh Jesus, I love you. Everything's great, jesus, it's fine, no pain, like that little meme with the dog sitting in the burning house it's fine. It's fine, everything's fine. No, no, no. When you can be with Jesus, you can ask him this question why isn't everything fine, god? Why isn't everything going the way I thought it was going to go?

Speaker 1: 11:38

What are you trying to teach me in this thing? Because this is not how I would have planned it out, this is not how I would have hoped it would have gone, but you're God and you're sovereign and you're able to do immeasurably more. So what are you teaching me in this? Because if he hasn't done it, but God is able, and I'm guessing you might have felt that way before, similar to Ruth back in chapter one, we got to remember her husband died. This wasn't her plan, this was not how she saw her life going, and so she turned to God and she was very loyal to Naomi. Wherever you go, I go, I'm sticking with you.

Speaker 1: 12:18

She goes and she works early in the morning till late at night. She's gleaning in the fields, trying to have enough food to eat. Finally, she's working so hard, her fingers are raw. She meets a cute guy who might be the one who seems interested in her. Then he ghosts her God, where are you in this?

Speaker 1: 12:33

I thought you sent Boaz to me, a man of God. I thought he was going to be the one to redeem me. And here I am waiting. Where are you, god? This is where we find Ruth. Why didn't you do what I thought you were going to do? And maybe you asked yourself this question before why didn't you heal the person I love? Why didn't you save that marriage? Why didn't you come through the way I thought you were going to come through? Where are you, god? And you may be waiting and you're waiting and you're stuck in chapter 2, or you feel like you're stuck in chapter 3. And I want to remind some people today and this is for some people in here today that while you are waiting, god is still working. While you are waiting, god is still working. Even though you may not see, it doesn't mean he is not active in your life. And what I love about Ruth is, even when she didn't see anything, she kept her faith and she didn't let her current circumstance or situation define her view of God. She kept trusting in God. Why? Because God is able. Whatever you need, he is able. He has an answer for every problem you face. We can even say it like this he has a lifeline for every letter of the alphabet. I'm about to take us to Sesame Street for a second.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Pastor Craig Rochelle did this awesome illustration of how God is faithful in the alphabets. Let's throw this on the screen real fast. Check this out. Empowers you to do His will. F. Forgives all your sin. G. Gives you your daily bread. H. Heals you when you're sick.

Speaker 1: 14:23

I illuminates your path. J justifies you by His grace. K keeps you from stumbling. L. Loves you no matter what. M moves your mountains. Come on.

Speaker 1: 14:35

N. Never leaves you or forsakes you. O. Overcomes your enemies. P provides for all your needs. Q quiets your darkest fears. I like that word. W works all things for your good. X extends it. There's an E, but it still counts you. Grace. Y yearns things for your good. X extends it. There's an E, but it still counts you. Grace. Y yearns for all your heart. And Z zealously pursues you with his unconditional love. Come on. Isn't that awesome. So every time you think about Elmo, you can think about Jesus. Whatever you need, god is able, our God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ask, think or imagine. Our God is able, and we see this provision in Ruth's life. Check this out, ruth, chapter 4.

Speaker 1: 15:33

Then the women in the town said to Naomi, her mother-in-law praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family. May this child, speaking of Obed, may this child, be famous in Israel. Can we pause there just for just a moment and notice why they're worshiping God? It wasn't for Boaz's financial success, it wasn't for a promotion, it wasn't for finally going on the dream vacation, but it was that God was providing a family legacy that would change the world. Did you know that God wants to provide you with a legacy that can change the world? God wants to provide a legacy for you that will change your future generations to come. He gave them life and all life comes from God, and life is a gift from God and we keep praising God that he provided for them. Check that. And it says may he restore your youth and care for you in your old age, for he is the son of your daughter-in-law, who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons. Wow, it's important to note that. They're celebrating God's blessing now to Naomi.

Speaker 1: 16:39

But this was not anywhere. I want you to get this. This was not anywhere close to her plan. This was not how she planned her life. She never planned to leave Bethlehem to go to Moab in the first place. Her husband took her there and she never planned for her husband to die and be destitute. That was not her plan. That wasn't anywhere close to the plan that she had for her life. But yet God still had a plan for her and this baby, obed, which means servant of God. Ruth loved Naomi and was better than seven sons.

Speaker 1: 17:20

Some of you right now are at that place that you did not plan in your life. You did not plan to be where you are, and you may be disappointed where you are. And I want to remind you of the goodness of God, who is able, who is able, who is able to do better than the plan that you even had. And I'll give you a little example of this. Aaron and I my wife Aaron and I we're very practical people. We're faith-filled people. We take giant steps of faith, but we're also very calculated in the way we try to do things.

Speaker 1: 17:50

When we first got married, like I mentioned last week, last week was our 10th year anniversary. We've been married for 10 years now and when we first got married, we didn't plan on having kids until like right about now in our lives, and the reason for that was because we knew we were going to start this church and we wanted to be so focused on starting the church, reaching people for Jesus, that we didn't want any little rugrats getting in the way. And so we knew it. That's what we wanted to do and that's just the kind of people that Aaron and I are. We're just so focused on that. We have a five-year plan. That's just the kind of people we are, and so that was our plan. Though right Then, three years into our marriage, aaron's dad gets sick.

Speaker 1: 18:31

He gets sick and we know he's going to pass away. So we decided that, hey, let's go ahead and try to have a kid so he can see our kid. So plans changed and then we had Kingsley J. We had our daughter Kingsley. There she is, and who knew man? Who knew? I know? I didn't know I could love someone so much until I met Kingsley.

Speaker 1: 18:54

And so plans changed on the time. And guess what? God's plan was better. God's plan was better. Then we said, okay, we will wait to have our second kid. We'll wait to have our second kid. Honestly, kingsley was such a perfect baby we didn't want to jinx it by having another kid, honestly so. But then, but then we started the church. So we said, okay, let's give the church like three more years before we think about having a kid. Think about having a kid, not even trying to have a kid, just think about having a kid. But then what happens? Covid happens, and there's nothing better to do during COVID than make a baby.

Speaker 1: 19:27

So plans changed again and then, but we loved having a daughter so much. We're so how, aaron and I think we just thought to ourselves oh, we'll definitely just have girls, that's it. And I was like, yeah, I'm gonna be a girl, dad, it's gonna be awesome, it's gonna be great. I was so convinced that we were having another girl. That was my plan until we had Jameson. And we had Jameson a wonderful little boy, a way better plan. But then we were done. We said no more kids and we took all the steps necessary to make sure that would happen, if you know what I'm saying. Two kids, we got a girl, we got a boy, perfect roller coaster family, because we love theme parks.

Speaker 1: 20:15

Then on one random Friday I get a call and turns out God still had a better plan. And then we got Hayden, we got our youngest, and instead of starting a family after our 10th anniversary, we somehow got three kids and a church plant within it, within it. But it was not how we planned it. It was not how we planned it and, bethany, you can come on up and play something spiritual up here. It was not how we planned it. It was not how we when we made our thing, it wasn't. But, man, god's plan has been way better and I'm going to tell you this, I'm going to be honest with you guys Even getting ready for September 15th, I feel like home.

Speaker 1: 21:09

Sunday, man, when we went out to start this church, we had a plan on how our church was going to look. And, boy, I got to tell you God had a different plan and I got to say to you, as your pastor his plan is way better and the future for this church, man, is so much healthier than what it would have been four years ago, because we know. We know, we have a conviction in our heart that everyday people need to learn how to become everyday followers of Jesus, not just a part of a church, not just a part of a religion, but to have a relationship with the life-giving God who gives life back then and gives life today. Come on. And so God's plan was better and what I want you to hear today in your life God is able. I want you to hear this today that God is able and His plan for you is still better.

Speaker 1: 22:04

When you don't get the job you want, tell yourself in chapter two, while you're waiting in chapter three, there's something that God still has for you in chapter four that's better than what you wanted in chapter two. He, because our God is able. When you wanted to marry that person, but you don't get to marry that person, tell yourself that God has somebody better for you, not a fixer-upper, but God got someone coming to marry that person. Tell yourself that God has somebody better for you, not a fixer-upper, but God got someone coming for you that you're going to thank God all day long that you didn't marry who you thought you were going to marry, because that person was busted. And the person you're now going to marry is way better, and there's some of you right now.

Speaker 1: 22:39

You had different plans for your Sunday. You didn't think you would be at church today. You didn't think you would be at church today. You didn't think you'd be watching online today, but God has something better, because he wanted to remind you and let you know that he is able to move in your life. His plan is better. Ruth 4, 17 says this. Then the neighbor women said Now, at last, naomi has a son again, and they named him Obed, and he became the father of Jesse and the grandfather of David. What does this mean and why does this matter? When you read the end of Ruth, when you eat, when you read the end of our Bible study, it has this kind of lineage of who came next and who came next and who came next.

Speaker 1: 23:19

Now, one of the major themes in the book of Ruth is the providence of God, the providence of God and what is the providence of God. The providence of God and what is the providence of God? That's when God uses our natural circumstances to bring about His supernatural will. In the book of Ruth we didn't see physical miracles. There is no parting of the sea, there is no walking on the water, there is no raising the dead back to life, but we see the miraculous provision, providence of God when he uses natural circumstances to bring about His supernatural will. So I'm going to show you this who we are as Jesus followers.

Speaker 1: 23:54

If we are followers of Jesus, then everything about our lives is about Jesus. We seek Him first. He is our Lord, he is our Savior, he is our Redeemer and he is our King. He is our righteousness, he is the door through which we enter, he is the Good Shepherd, he is the living vine and His name is Jesus. And as we look at the lineage, we see Jesus and we read backwards, just like in Hebrew they read everything backwards, just like the best way to understand the providence of God is by reading it backwards. We best view it backwards when we look at Jesus, who came from Mary, and Joseph, who came from Jacob, and then he came from a whole bunch of other people whose names I ain't going to pronounce correctly, and we see names like Solomon and David and Jesse, who came from Obed, who came from Ruth and Boaz.

Speaker 1: 24:50

I just got to say this because this is crazy to me, Because remember, remember chapter 1?. Remember chapter 1? Do we remember who Ruth was in chapter 1? She was a Moabite woman. Do you remember the Moabites? They worshiped the false god. They worshiped the god that took sacrifices of babies as his worship a demon god, and she came from a people that were not a people of God. And this sinful Moabite woman turned to God, turned to the God of Israel, and he redeemed her and he restored her, and I want, I want to stop. I want to stop for a moment because this because sometimes we can just read the Bible and just read restored her and I want to stop. I want to stop for a moment because sometimes we can just read the Bible and just read over things. But I want you to think about this. Okay, I want you to think about this when she married Boaz, that was her second marriage Her husband died. That was not her plan, that was not her plan, and so if you ever find yourself thinking you're at plan B in your life, if you ever think you find yourself I'm at plan B, I want you to know that God does not give out plan B's, but he gives new plan A's and he has a new plan A for your life, and I want somebody to know in here today that you've been settling for a plan B mindset. You have a plan B mindset that I messed up too much and I made too many decisions that I can't follow God, I can't trust God, that God can't use me. But God doesn't give you a plan B, but he will give you a new plan A in Jesus name. Come on, because God's plan is better. Name Come on, because God's plan is better, his plan is better. If you wake up somewhere in your life and you don't like where you are, if you're disappointed and you're hurting and you're waiting, remember God is still at work in your life.

Speaker 1: 26:40

And I want to show you something the progression of Ruth's identity through each chapter First. First she identified herself I'm just a foreigner. I'm a foreigner in a land that's not mine. And then she says I'm lower. I'm lower than your servants. Then her identity begins to shift and she says well, well, well, maybe I'm a servant. And then at the end she says I am your wife. And she gets to know the goodness of God and her identity begins to change. Some of you right now are making decisions because you're living out of your false identity. You're living out of identity that is rooted in what that person said about you in your adolescence. Can I go here today? You're living a story right now based on what someone said or something that happened to you back then and the whole time, every step of the way, god's been trying to say that's not your story. Stop saying that thing about yourself, because I don't say that about you. And Ruth, and she wrestles and she says I'm a foreigner, I'm lower than a servant, I'm lower than a servant, but maybe I'm your servant. Then I'm your wife and this is what I want us to get. This is what I want us to get.

Speaker 1: 28:03

Who does Jesus call us? Who does Jesus call the church? He says the church is his bride. He says the church is his bride. Come on, some of the guys in here are like Jacob. What you talking about? I ain't no one's bride, I'm hard. He said the church is his bride. That's his wife he's saying. He's saying we're his wife. You're like Jacob. You're getting some sister wives stuff up in here. What you talking about? No, no, ain't no sister wives. Good show, not a good show. What he's saying is he says what he's saying. What he's saying is this he says I love you, like a husband loves his wife. Here you go. Here you go. Meaning we're equal partners. Meaning we're doing this together. Meaning that Jesus is saying to you today your identity may have been wrapped in. I'm just a foreigner, I'm just an outcast, I don't belong. And he's saying no, no, no, no. You're my bride and we do life together. And he loves you with a deep kind of love, a passionate kind of love.

Speaker 1: 29:17

And the Apostle Paul tells us like this. The Apostle Paul says it like this in Ephesians he says don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. In those days you were living apart from Christ, you lived in this world without God and without hope. But now, but now, you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far from God, but now, come on, somebody, are you ready for your? But now? Moment, but now, but now, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. So now you Gentiles, you are no longer strangers and foreigners. That's who you are. You're not stuck in Moab anymore, and if God can use a sinful Moabite woman to usher in our Savior Lord, he can use you, no matter what decisions you have made, because he's for you, he's with you, and our God is able. So, father Jesus, holy Spirit, we need you. We need you, lord, we need more of you.

Speaker 1: 30:40

And right now, in Jesus' name, I break down that wall of trust that people keep running into, that wall of being vulnerable before the Lord. And in Jesus' name, I speak against every false story and narrative that you have believed about your life. I speak against the thought that's been spoken over some people in here that you're just a coward. That's gone in Jesus name. You are not a coward. You are create. You are courageous in Christ Jesus.

Speaker 1: 31:21

I speak against the feeling that someone has had that I got to do this all by myself, I got to grab myself. No one's safe and I feel the Holy Spirit saying that he's safe, he's a safe place. Silence and solitude is where you will meet him. You know who you are, you know who you are. Silence and solitude is where you will meet him. You don't have to do it all by yourself, but let go, trust in him. Trust in him. So come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. More of you, more of you.

Speaker 1: 32:01

And like Ruth, lord, things may not went as planned. That's like the Holy Spirit saying that doesn't negate the pain in the process. Your pain, man, your pain is real. His plan for you will continue. But, man, that pain, that pain, god is saying he's with you in that pain, that he's forging you and forming you into the likeness of His Son, through that pain, that with Him, nothing is wasted, even your pain. And where the enemy thought he got one up on you, god uses the enemy as your footstool. So, jesus, we thank you for your love, we thank you for your goodness and your favor.

Speaker 1: 33:15

And if you're in here today and you don't know this Jesus I'm talking about, or maybe you kind of walked away from him, you know him as you walked away from him, I just want to pray with you, right where you are. I'm not going to call you out, have you come up front? Nothing like that. But if you want to make a decision to trust Jesus with your life or trust Him again, just right where you are, you can pray this prayer with me. You can say it out loud or you can say it in your heart, but you say Jesus, forgive me for my sins, make me new. Today I trust in you. Today I follow you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Let's give God some praise in here today.