Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E88 | Everyday Eurasia | Linda Louw

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S1-E88 | Everyday Eurasia | Linda Louw · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  Hello and welcome to the everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  inspiring faith for every day Each day we are on a journey
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  with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces and in so
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  many different places around the world is it beautiful that no
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  matter where we. Are.
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  We can walk with Him every single day.
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  Jesus is the one who connects us all and stands at the very
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  center of our lives day after day.
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  Through this podcast, you'll hear voices from across the
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  region sharing devotionals that reminds us of God's presence in
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  our everyday moments. This week we're joined by Linda
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  Law. She has been a missionary for 26
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  years, a mother of four precious daughters for 37 years, and wife
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  to a strategic and wonderful man for 40 years.
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  She has lived in seven different countries on four different
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  continents. She is a graduate of Point Loma
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  Nazarene University and has at varying times been a full time
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  elementary teacher, mom and pastors wife.
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  Linda is now pursuing ordination as an Elder in the Church of the
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  Nazarene. Her current assignment is
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  Coordinator for Advocacy for Women in Leadership on the
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  Eurasia Region. She's patiently desires that all
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  people, especially women, are provided with opportunities to
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  lead with in the Church, as lay people and as ministers.
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  This week, in honor of International Women's Day, I'm
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  going to be looking at a story of two brave women who risk
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  everything to provide for each other.
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  It is a woman's story, an anomaly in the Bible, and that
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  it is a story about women told from a woman's perspective.
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  But it is by no means a story just for women.
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  This is a story of relationships, a story of the
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  vulnerable and the needy, a story of kindness, a story of
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  taking risks, a story of goodness and integrity, and
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  mostly, a story of hope in the midst of despair, of God's
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  provision against all odds. It's been called a love story,
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  after all. It ends happily ever after.
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  And so it is. But to refer to it as romantic
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  is to miss the point of the story altogether.
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  This is not a story about romantic love, but one of love
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  born of hardship and difficulty, love that speaks of commitment
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  and trust no matter what. Love that is an action, not an
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  emotion. Love that actively seeks the
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  good of the loved one over self. In Hebrew this love is called
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  hassad, similar to the Greek word agape, the stories found in
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  the book of Ruth. It begins with the line and the
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  day that Judges ruled, more exactly translated as the Judges
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  judged. In effect, Arnaki ruled.
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  The final chapter of Judges reads.
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  In those days, there was no king in Israel.
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  Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
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  Ancient, equivalent to the modern If it feels right, just
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  do it. And the gods were worshipped,
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  cities were burned, and unspeakable atrocities were
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  perpetrated against the vulnerable and defenseless.
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  It's against this backdrop that we must view the story of Naomi,
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  Ruth and Boaz. And we modern readers,
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  accustomed to Israel's inconsistent relationship to the
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  God who rescued them from slavery in a in Egypt, but
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  faithfully kept his covenantal promises even when they
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  themselves were not faithful, must not be quick to judge the
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  actions of the characters of the story.
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  They were simply people living in a hostile world, trying to
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  survive. Ruth is the story of journeys,
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  of going out and returning home. Our story begins with the famine
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  in the land that the nation of Israel occupied.
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  The family of Limeluk of Bethlehem, ironically translated
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  as the House of Bread, go out to the fields of Moab among non
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  Israelites. The story does not say that
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  Elimelech prayed first. Remember this is during the time
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  when everyone did what they thought was right in their eyes.
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  So they left the promised land that should have been flowing
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  with milk and honey to live among the Moabites for a time.
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  However, Elimelech dies there and Naomi is now a single mom.
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  Her two sons marry Moabite women and within 10 years the sons
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  dies well, leaving three women alone to fend for themselves.
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  Interestingly, up until now they have been called her sons.
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  But in verse 5, Naomi was left without her two boys.
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  Had our bitterness and grief been about provision, they would
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  be her sons, those who were by law and culture, obligated to
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  provide for her. But here, in her loss, they are
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  her boys. She has lost home and husband,
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  and now she must bury her boys. She is a mom grieving for the
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  loss of her children. Limelek's plan did not play out
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  well for Naomi. There isn't an extended family
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  for her to turn to. It is now in her hands to sort
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  things out for her and her daughter's in law.
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  And now it is very much a woman's story.
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  But one may ask, where's God in the story where verse one begins
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  with the judges. Verse 6, after the death of her
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  boys and her husband, begins with the news Naomi hears of
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  Yahweh's provision of food for His people.
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  Yahweh has not deserted the people of the promise, nor has
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  He deserted Naomi. In her despair.
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  He was not evident, but that did not mean He was absent.
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  God most often works behind the scenes, moving and orchestrating
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  events until the moment is right for the pieces and players to
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  come together. Isaiah 40 says, Why do you say,
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  O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and
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  my right is disregarded by my God?
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  Have you not known? Have you not heard?
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  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
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  earth. He does not faint or grow weary.
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  His understanding is unsearchable.
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  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He
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  increases strength. Even youths shall faint, be
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  weary, and young men shall feel exhausted.
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  But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
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  They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
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  They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
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  Though Naomi felt alone and disregarded, she was not.
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  God wasn't there. He understood her predicament.
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  He was already at work, ready to redeem and restore.
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  Dear Father, there are times when life is overwhelming, when
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  we have suffered loss upon loss. In our own wisdom, we sometimes
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  do not know which way to turn open our art ears to hear Your
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  presence and provision. When we cannot see, we choose to
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  trust that You do. When the odds are stacked
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  against us, we choose to believe that you were at work, leaving
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  nothing to chance. When we are weary, exhausted,
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  and faint, we will wait upon you, knowing that our story is
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  in your hands. Thank you for listening to the
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  Everyday Eurasia podcast, Inspiring Fate for Everyday.
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  For more Everyday stories, subscribe on this podcast
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  Newsletter and. Further information about the
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  Eurasia region visit our. Website Eurasia.
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  Region.org.