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What Will YOU Do In the Famine? - Part 2 · Enjoying the Journey

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  The Book of Ruth begins in dark days, but even
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  in the darkness, God was at work. Through loss,
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  uncertainty, and unexpected turns, we discover a beautiful
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  story of grace, redemption, and hope. Join Scott
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  Pauley for this new study, The Gospel According to Ruth. Light for
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  Dark Days.
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  In one of the most difficult seasons of my own life, a dear precious
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  friend who was a good counselor to me, I remember him telling me,
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  God is testing you. God wants to see
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  what's in your heart. You know, after teaching, there's always a test and
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  how how you do in the test determines whether you pass or not, whether you
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  move on or have to be taught again. And I've
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  been reminded of that so many times in my life because God will allow
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  circumstances and things to come into your life,
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  uh, to, to see what's in your heart, to see how you will
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  respond. We return today to Ruth chapter 1 to this great
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  question. It is this: what will you do when the famine comes?
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  And we established in our last study that the first response
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  some people have is they flee. They,
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  they turn tail and run. They run for better circumstances, but in
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  doing so, they run from God. Listen, dear one, seasons come and
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  go. The famine is just one chapter of the story.
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  In fact, do you remember in verse number 1, we find the, the phrase,
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  it came to pass? It always comes to pass.
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  Don't leave when the famine comes. Lots of people make that mistake.
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  They moved to Moab. Remember the Moabites? They were cursed. Don't do
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  that. When the famine came to Abraham, he went down to Egypt. When,
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  when the famine came to Isaac, he went down to the Philistines.
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  Good people sometimes make very dumb decisions in the famine, but your
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  family and your future is more important than that famine.
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  And so we established in our first, in our first person,
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  Elimelech, that some people flee. They They run from
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  God, and in doing so, they miss what God
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  has for them. And I want to just give you this little thought before I
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  move to the second part of this, and it is this: that Boaz,
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  who also lived in Bethlehem, also lived through that famine.
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  In fact, Boaz was going to be tested again and
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  again and again. The famine was just one of
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  the tests, but every time Boaz was tested,
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  he responded in faith instead of
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  in a fleshly way. Now, this is the great choice we all have to
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  make. There's always 2 paths, aren't there? There's always 2 ways.
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  There's the spiritual man and there's the carnal man. And I
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  don't know about you, I don't want to operate in the flesh.
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  I want to operate in the Spirit. And that doesn't
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  just happen when things are going good. It is especially important
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  when things are going bad. And so what will
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  you do when the famine comes? Number 1, we determined
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  that some people flee. We don't want to do that. Don't be Elimelech. Number 2,
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  let's come to the next main character in the story. It is Elimelech's
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  wife Naomi. I believe Naomi was a
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  good woman. I really do. I think she was a faithful wife.
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  She went with her husband. She was probably a wonderful mother.
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  She raised these 2 boys. But she faces heartache and heartbreak.
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  And there are lots of women, perhaps along with men,
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  who are listening to me right now who that resonates with you,
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  and you think, that's my life, that's my story. Well,
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  I want to point out to you that was only one part of Naomi's
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  story. The good part is still coming, so don't give up on God while
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  God is still at work in your story. We come to verse number
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  3 of the The Bible says, and Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died,
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  and she was left, and her 2 sons. That word left—
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  that's a lonely word, isn't it? She was alone.
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  She's a widow now. And then, as if it couldn't get any worse, the Bible
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  says, and they took them wives of the women of Moab. The name of the
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  one was Orpah, the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelled there about 10
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  years. And Mahlon and Chilion died also,
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  both of them, and the woman was left of her 2 sons and
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  her husband. So now they've stayed in Moab for 10 years. Remember,
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  they only went for a short time. They were just there for a visit.
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  Now they've become citizens of Moab.
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  And in that 10 years, she loses her husband, she gains 2 daughter-in-laws,
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  but then she loses both of her sons. Can you imagine the grief
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  this woman is going through? The Bible says in verse 6, then she
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  arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab
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  For she had heard in the country of Moab how the Lord had visited his
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  people and given them bread. Now I'll come back to that thought because that's a
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  little glimmer of light in the darkness. But the Bible says
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  in verse 7, wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was,
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  and her 2 daughter-in-laws with her, and they went on the way to return into
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  the land of Judah. And Naomi said unto her 2 daughters-in-law,
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  go return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly
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  with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant
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  you that you may find rest, each of you, in the house of her husband.
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  Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voice and wept.
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  Now, I, I think she's sincere. She's thinking of what's in
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  the best interest, at least from her perspective, of these 2 young women who are
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  now also widows. They said unto her in verse 10, surely we will return
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  with thee unto thy people. And Naomi said, turn again, my daughters. Why will you
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  go with me? Are there yet any more sons in my womb that they may
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  be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way, for I'm too old to
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  have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a
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  husband also tonight and should also bear sons, would ye tarry
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  for them till they were grown? Would ye stay for them from having husbands?
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  Nay, my daughters, for it grieveth me much for
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  your sakes. The hand of the Lord has gone
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  out against me. Do you hear the despair?
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  In fact, she basically says in verse 12, I have no hope.
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  No hope. Too old. My best days are behind me. I,
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  I meet a lot of people that think that. Listen to me, friend. If you're
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  a follower of the Lord Jesus, your best day is still ahead of you because
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  the best day you're ever going to live is the day you see Jesus face
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  to face. Stop living like the good old days or the days in the
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  past. No, friend. My pastor used to say the prime
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  of life is any time in life when you're in the center of God's will.
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  If you'll just get back to where you need to be with the Lord,
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  and that is possible, and Naomi's evidence of that. There can be great
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  days ahead of you. There's always hope. As long as you're breathing,
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  there's hope. A living dog is better than a dead lion,
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  Solomon would write. So don't die before you die.
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  Don't quit before God is finished. But this woman,
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  she's hit the bottom. In verse 13, she's grieving.
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  She even says— this is her testimony— the hand of the Lord has
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  gone out against me. Do you see here that she saw God's
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  power but she missed his love? I think there's a lot of
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  Christians today who think of God as being all-powerful, but they've
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  lost sight of God's all-loving nature. I want you to
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  know God is not against you. God is for you.
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  She literally saw God as the enemy.
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  The hand of the Lord is against me. No, God is not
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  against you. God's never been against you. You may have set yourself against him,
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  but God is for you. And if God be for us, who can be against
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  us? Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 14, and they lifted
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  up their voice and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto
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  her. And she said, behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back to her people and to
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  her gods. Return thou after thy sister-in-law. And Ruth said, entreat me not
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  to leave thee or to return from following after thee.
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  And we'll come back to Ruth in our next study, but let me point out
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  to you the second response. What will you do in the famine? Some flee— that's
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  Elimelech. Some fear— that's Naomi.
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  I think Naomi is making decisions based entirely on fear.
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  She has the fear of the future. She has the fear
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  of failure. She doesn't know how it's going to turn out, how she's even going
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  to live, how she's going to make ends meet. I think
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  she even has the fear of the Father. She doesn't really see God
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  right now as a good Father. She sees him as an angry Father. The,
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  the fear of God she has is not a holy fear. It is a really
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  self-centered fear that God's going to get her. No,
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  she thinks God's against her, but he is not. She's operating in fear.
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  I want to say to you right now, God has not given you the spirit
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  of fear, beloved, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.
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  If you make decisions in fear and not
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  in faith, you're going to miss what God has for you. What will you
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  do when the famine comes? Don't do what Elimelech did,
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  and don't speak as Naomi. You know, sometimes we exaggerate
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  our problems and minimize our God in the midst of our difficulty. Do the
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  exact opposite. Make much of the Lord and realize
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  that God will take care of the circumstances.
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  Thank you for joining us for today's study. If you've enjoyed this
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  journey through Ruth, visit us at etj.bible and
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  explore our Journey Through Scripture section where you'll find overviews,
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  Bible teaching, and preaching for every book of the Bible.
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  of listeners just like you. If God leads you to give, simply click
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  Give at etj.bible. Until next time,
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  keep Following God's Word and finding Christ's
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  joy.