TIME is a creation of God.
When he made light and darkness, God called the first day and the second night. Then, there was the first evening and the first morning. (Gen. 1:3-4)
God introduced time. So time became the when of everything.
ABRAHAM's journey to Canaan put him in a tent as he moved from place to place.
As he got older, he asked God: What could You possibly give me that would make that much of a difference in my life? After all, I am still childless ... (Gen. 15:2)
Lack of time and stability put him in a bind.
As God desired that Abraham would trust him, he wants you to trust him, too.
THE LOSS of Lazarus was heavy on Martha's heart. So when Jesus came to Bethany, she told him that her brother wouldn't have died if he had been there. (John 11:17-44)
But Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life." He seemed to say time may be binding on you but not on me.
LIKE many families, stability in life was a concern to Ephraimites.
So when famine hit Bethlehem, which ironically means the place of bread, Elimelech, his two sons, and his wife, Naomi, left Judah for Moab.
They settled there and made lives for themselves. But soon after, Elimelech died.
After ten years of marriage, both sons died too.
WHATEVER you do in famine will determine what comes next.
Elijah listened to God, and God told him to go to the brook. When it dried up, he sent him to the Widow of Sarepta. (1 Kings. 17:1-3; 8)
You must make it a habit of getting God involved. If you do not ask before you proceed, you risk the chance of losing all.
NAOMI lost the men in her life but not the God of her life. So she was confident to do the right thing.
When she heard things had improved, she set out to return home with her daughters-in-law.
AS GOOD leaders do, she had a difficult conversation with them.
"Go back to your mother's home. May the Lord show you kindness as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and me. May the Lord grant each of you rest in the home of another husband." (Ruth 1:8-9)
She told them she was too old to have sons and her life was too bitter to share with them. Naomi said the obvious.
Orphah wept and said goodbye. But Ruth stayed.
She understood the reality. Ruth saw beyond the cloud of grief.
SOMETIMES, there are things people see in you that you do not see in yourself.
There was something she could see that Naomi struggled with.
When Naomi urged her to leave, she 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. Where you die, I will die and be buried there. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." (Ruth 1:16)
What did you see that instructed your decision? What made you gravitate toward that person? What did you see that made you invest in that business? What convinced you to go to that church?
What you see will determine what you do, and this will determine your direction.
RUTH saw grace in Naomi, and they returned to Bethlehem.
The place of bread is your fruitful place. (Ps. 66:12)
Where you go when things do not go as planned will determine what will happen next.
THE CITY was agog with the news of the two women.
"Could it be the same Naomi who left us so long ago?" they asked. (Ruth 1:19)
Please do not call me Naomi anymore because I am not pleasant. Call me Mara.
She allowed her identity to be bound to her situation.
Do not allow your circumstances to determine who you are.
BOAZ, the wealthy relative of Elimelech, recognized his responsibility to save relatives from hardship.
So, he favoured Ruth when he saw her.
Ruth followed Naomi's instructions, and Boaz married her. (Ruth 4:11)
She saw Matthew 5:7 play out in her life.
Final Thoughts
WHEN GOD is saying something, only those listening will catch it.
You must be led by God to be fed by Him.