Author: missionspaul

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-13
We need to live lives of an expectation of favour from the Lord.
An expectation of favour that says, ‘Let me go to the fields.’
What caused Ruth to say ‘Let me go’?
c. Her secure position
“May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” 2:12
This prayer of Boaz uses imagery for God like that of Moses:
“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.” Deut 32:11
The Psalms speak of the wings of God as places of safety (Ps 17:8); places of refreshment (Ps 36:7); places of stillness (Ps 57:1); places of hope (Ps 91:1).
For Ruth it is the place of refuge.
“O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in times of distress.” Jeremiah 16:19
Ruth had come to know Naomi’s God, the God of Israel. She had found Him to be accessible to the troubled and bitter person. That He was the One to turn to when needing help, safety, relief from distress, trouble and affliction.
We will face many problems, attacks, failures and sins. God welcomes us to run to him and under His wings we find security.

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-13
We need to live lives of an expectation of favour from the Lord.
An expectation of favour:
That says, ‘Let me go to the fields.’
What caused Ruth to say ‘Let me go’?
Faithfulness
“She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” 2:7
We must understand that our lives will contain significant amounts of time spent working steadily from morning till night doing something that is mundane, humbling and simply not what you know you could do given half the chance.
Yet it is in that place that faithfulness is born.
There will be times when you find yourself in a place that tries and tests you more than you think you could ever possibly imagine.
You have given so much, your arms ache from reaching out, your legs are buckled, you are burnt from the midday sun, you cannot give another ounce of your life and you know that come the morning you will have to do it all over again.
“God of my destiny, I want to become somebody, I have been expecting your favour, my expectancy has overcome the disabilities in my way, it has caused me to do what I can do, but where is my encounter?”
Yet, God doesn’t seem to be taking any calls. The answering machine of heaven is switched on.
There are times when you will just have to say “My encounter may not look like it is going to happen in the near future, but I’m remaining faithful because I still believe it’s going to take place”.

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-13
We need to live lives of an expectation of favour from the Lord.
An expectation of favour:
That says, ‘Let me go to the fields.’
What caused Ruth to say ‘Let me go’?
a. Information
The Levitical laws commanded the harvesters to leave behind a portion of the crop including the edges of the fields of grain to be collected by the needy, the helpless, the poor and the traveller.
Ruth did not let the shock of her unexpected events or her grief at what she had lost keep her away from what she could be doing in gleaning the fields.
It is so much easier to stay in bed and wait for destiny to knock at your door than it is to get up and do what you can do.
Ruth went into the fields because she knew that that was what she could do. Maybe Naomi told her about this clause in the Levitical law. But knowing something isn’t good enough. Information is not enough, revelation is great but if there is no application of the information then so what?
Sometimes we can read too many books and hear too many sermons! Some sermons need to be preached in the same way containing the same message week after week until people live in the light of them.
What do you know? If you didn’t receive anything new from God’s Word for the rest of your life but just did what He has already told you then your life would probably still be transformed for the better.
Daily prayer times, reading the Bible, meditating on His Word, loving other people, giving 10% of your income and giving offerings on top of that, telling people about Jesus, worshipping Him, being filled with the Holy Spirit, faith and trust, obedience and holiness. We know so much!
Ruth acted on what she knew.

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-4
Does your expectation serve your disability or does your disability submit to your expectation? You must never allow your disability to set your pace and plot your course.
God took a woman from Moab, a nation which He brought judgment upon, in order to eventually bring about the birth of His Son. Ruth was obviously not aware of her significance, however, she lived with expectation and her expectation overcame her disability.
V2. The word for favour is Ratson, it means pleasure, desire and delight. Ruth had an expectation that someone would be pleased with her and would then allow her to continue to work in the fields. You must have an expectation of the ongoing favour of the Lord on your life.
Is Jesus known as Jesus Christ of Bethlehem? Jesus Christ of Jerusalem? Neither: He is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Nazareth, the place where Nathanael would say, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ But it was to Nazareth, a remote tiny Galilean town that angel Gabriel came to a young virgin girl named Mary. To Nazareth, a town so insignificant it wasn’t even included on the census lists of that time. It was here that Gabriel announces: “Greetings, Mary, you who are highly favoured!” Mary of Nazareth was chosen for a unique role.
Raise your expectation to believe that God has chosen you for a role that only you can fulfil. That under His favour you will become all that you can become.
No matter what you’ve done, or how inadequate you feel or what disability lies in front of you. You may have come from Moab or from Nazareth. It doesn’t matter how much you feel you have failed, God the God of Nazareth is favouring you. Jesus of Nazareth is living in you.
Stop looking at what stands in your way, whatever difficult or disability it there, get over yourself and look with expectancy for the favour of the Lord.

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-4
Can I make ‘As it turned out’ turn out?
In some ways we have an enormous ability to make things happen in a general sense. We can be like Sarai who took Hagar and gave her to her husband Abraham and Ishmael was born. There will always be a way to make things happen and yet it not be the right way. There are many who have had to settle for God’s second best because they tried to make their destiny come to them.
Did Ruth do anything to make ‘as it turned out’ turn out?
The answer is yes, even though it was a total surprise. Ruth was not looking for Boaz like Sarai was looking for signs of a son. This was a surprise divine encounter for Ruth that she had no promise of. Yet though she was unprepared to meet Boaz at the same time she was very prepared.
I believe opportunities await those people who live their lives with expectancy. Some people will never realise their potential within them because there is no expectancy coming out of them.
Three servants were entrusted with amounts of money according to their ability. Two men went to work immediately with an expectancy of gaining and they doubled their money. But one man was a pessimist, he didn’t even put it in a bank to get interest, but he dug a hole and buried it in the ground. He was not expecting his money to grow. After a long time their master came back home. To the men who lived their life with expectancy and who had gained for their master more than what he had entrusted them with they were well rewarded. But the man with no expectation was stripped of the money that he had.
We must live expecting to produce and not hide away in negativity.

Expectation leads to Encounter – Ruth 2:1-4
‘As it turned out’ – NIV; ‘And as it happened’ – NLT; ‘and she happened to come’ – NASB; ‘and she happened to stop’ – Amplified But this was not a stroke of luck.
We are always privileged to see the bigger picture as we study the Bible.
It was the intention of God that Boaz, an Ephrathite in Bethlehem, be married to a young Moabite woman named Ruth. It was God’s plan that they would have a son called Obed, who would be the father of Jesse, the father of king David and who’s genealogical line would eventually produce Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God’s Son.
How would that happen?
It would be by a meeting of man’s will and God’s will in a divine encounter.
God had to wait for Ruth to be born, grow up, marry Mahlon, Elimech and Naomi’s son, wait a further 10 years for Mahlon to die, then wait for her to return with Naomi to Bethlehem. He would then wait for her to glean the fields. He had to wait for her to enter the part of the field which belonged to Boaz. Finally comes that divine encounter between Ruth and Boaz that God fore-ordained and which we are yet to study in detail.
But can you see the long road to that encounter. Maybe God had to protect situations to make sure the divine encounter took place. Maybe God had to send angels to protect Boaz’s business. Maybe during the famine Boaz thought of selling his fields and angels were sent to make sure there was no sale. “I need that field for in 10 years time there’s going to be a divine encounter there.”
You may be waiting for something to take place, waiting for God, think for a moment, how long has God had to wait on us, the years of protecting situations, waiting for us to get into the right place for a divine encounter.

It’s never as bad as all that! – Ruth 1: 19 – 22

There was a change of her confession
Previously we read that Naomi had spoken of God as Lord. (1:8-9). The name ‘Lord’ speaks of His covenantal love.
But as she arrives back in Bethlehem we see a change of confession, (1:20 –21). It is this change of confession of God’s name that reveals what has taken place behind the scenes of Naomi’s life as she was trying to come to terms with her life.
The name she calls God now is ‘Shaddai’. It means all-sufficient God, eternally capable of being all that His people need.
The Christian who has grown to know God as Almighty (Shaddai) knows that everything that happens to their life, especially the meaningless suffering is already in His hands. This key is what enables them to cope.
Naomi was in effect saying, “Yes, its bad, I feel pain and loss, but I can leave all this in the hands of one who is all-powerful. I leave the explanation and the responsibility for my bitterness with Him. Don’t look on me like you used to, don’t respect me like before, my life is in ruins, I left the House of Bread with everything and now I have nothing, but all of it is in the plans of the Almighty (the God who is at His best when man is at his worst) and it is He, our Lord (the God who made a perfect and all time covenant of love with us) who has brought me back to the House of Bread.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. Isaiah 43:2
Your waters, rivers, fire and flames may be different and at different levels through out your life. But this is a promise from El Shaddai, God Almighty. “I will be with you”.
It’s never as bad as all that.

It’s never as bad as all that! – Ruth 1: 19 – 22

There was a change of her circumstance
‘Can this be Naomi?’ shatters Naomi. It brings her face to face with her circumstance. Her circumstance has dramatically changed, because she has lost so much. She wants to change her name from Naomi, meaning pleasant to Mara, meaning bitterness. She was once living a full life but now it is empty.
“Don’t call me Naomi anymore. That’s what I once had, but my circumstances have changed.”
Her life has gone so far off course that her very identity has changed. “Call me bitter.”
At some point we all will experience loss. Great hopes and dreams can be blown away. You know what could have been, what should have been or even what was had this or that never happened to you. You and others were on the verge but today things are different. This bitterness can even be tasted:
He has filled me with bitter herbs. Lamentations 3:15

And yet at times being empty can be a good position to be in.
• Before creation the earth was empty.
• The widow’s poverty only came to an end because she had empty jars. 2 Kings 4.
• The disciples fishing boats only began to sink under the weight of the catch because they had gone out to fish with empty boats. Luke 5:7
• The disciples were baptised in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost because they were not already filled. They were empty vessels. Acts 2:4

It’s never as bad as all that! – Ruth 1: 19 – 22

Naomi arrives back in Bethlehem and she is in quite a poor state, things have changed but they are about to change again.
There was a change of her condition.
Ten years previously Naomi had left the town she lived in. She left ‘full’, she wasn’t poor, this was a fairly wealthy family. But now she returns home. The whole town are stirred, shaken and unsettled. The women of the town look a bit closer and exclaim ‘ Can this be Naomi?’ They looked at her condition, her appearance and said ‘You’ve lost some weight, you look pale, have you stopped using conditioner, are those grey hairs natural or have you added them – is this really you Naomi?’

Naomi’s appearance is a reflection of all the hardship that she has faced.
‘Can this be Naomi?’ is a question that cuts deep into her, for she has changed so much.

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18
The Message says “And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

But the reverse is also true.
The diminishing of the glory of God can be seen on a person as well as the ever-increasing glory. Everyone has the opportunity to turn around, turn away for an easier life, more comfortable life, less passionate about Christ and His Church. People won’t even have to hear your sad story. They will see it on your face.

It’s never as bad as all that! – Ruth 1: 19 – 22

When disaster strikes the ability to not run ahead is so important.
If faith is being certain of what you do not see then faith is also refusing to see what is certain.

Remember Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego? A furnace was heated 7 times hotter than usual. They refused to bow down in worship to the king and were thrown into the furnace.
Remember Daniel and the lion’s den? Daniel was caught praying to God and although the king tried to save him, Daniel was thrown into a den of hungry lions. The Bible says a royal signet ring sealed the stone over the den “so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed”

Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego’s faith caused them to see something other than the fiery furnace. The result? The Son of God entered the furnace as a 4th man and they were brought out alive. Daniel’s faith caused him to see something other than the lion’s mouths. The result? An angel joined Daniel in the lions den and closed the mouths of each lion.

These situations speak because they have positive endings. But what if you face a situation “so that (your name) situation might not be changed” and in the end it doesn’t change?
What if the certainty is that you face the pain of public flogging, the isolation and cruelty of prison? What if the certainty is being stoned to death, or sawn in two, or killed by a sword and it actually happens? These incidents are recorded in the greatest chapter of faith in the Bible, in Hebrews 11. They were commended for their faith because they refused to look at the certainty of the starvation, the stones, the sword, the flogging, the pain, the humiliation.
Faith causes a looking and a longing for something better. Faith says it’s never as bad as all that.