It’s doubtful that Naomi and Ruth ever gave a thought to the possible impact of their lives. Given their obscurity and the shattered nature of their circumstances, they were simply hoping to have some semblance of a life at all. But God’s economy does not yield itself easily to human measurement or estimation. Often the greatest faith and faithfulness are demonstrated by those with the least, facing the most difficult. And often, those are the very lives of greatest significance and most enduring impact. Ruth 4:1-22 brings our story to a telling end and surprising conclusion, in a message entitled, “The Measure of a Faithful Life”. (Fifth in an expositional series of messages on Ruth: Faithful Lives in Fateful Times).

The faith and faithfulness of Ruth had sustained Naomi when her own shattered faith would not. But the faithfulness of God, so clearly demonstrated in the providential generosity and kindness shown to them by Boaz, had been the gracious means by which Naomi’s faith had been wonderfully restored and fully renewed. Now it was Naomi’s turn, it was her faith and faithfulness that stepped in to take center stage in securing the future of both Ruth and herself. Ruth 3:1-18 recounts one of the most daring demonstrations of faith recorded in all of scripture, in a message entitled “Operation Resting Place”. It is a gripping account and an important reminder that sometimes the life of faith can be a high risk, high stakes venture. And, as James reminds us, that true faith is a faith that works.

It would be difficult to exaggerate how bleak the lives of Naomi and Ruth appeared upon their arrival back in Bethlehem. To be a widow without a male survivor, accompanied only by a widowed, Moabite daughter-in-law, returning to your home and community only after a long time away, while other’s lives had moved on, was about as dim a prospect as could possibly exist. In the words of Naomi, they were “empty” (1:21). Their only consolation was that food was available again, and at the very least they would not go hungry. But one important factor was missing from that equation, as we’ll see movingly revealed in Ruth 2:1-23, in a message entitled “The Never Ending, Never Failing, Steadfast Love of God”. It’s an important reminder that what often looks like the end of the road, may be just the beginning.

The book of Ruth opens to a scene of unimaginable hardship, tragedy, and loss. A family forced to leave their generational family home owing to the economic consequences of war and famine, to take up residence as migrants in a land and among a people not their own, only to experience the untimely death of their husband and father and then later both of their sons. But out of those ashes emerges one of the most beautiful and powerful stories of faith ever written. In Ruth 1:6-22 we begin the journey of Naomi and Ruth in a message entitled “The Faith Behind the Faithfulness”. The vivid account is a telling reminder of that most essential characteristic that must form the bedrock of our lives. The book of Ruth opens to a scene of unimaginable hardship, tragedy, and loss. A family forced to leave their generational family home owing to the economic consequences of war and famine, to take up residence as migrants in a land and among a people not their own, only to experience the untimely death of their husband and father and then later both of their sons. But out of those ashes emerges one of the most beautiful and powerful stories of faith ever written. In Ruth 1:6-22 we begin the journey of Naomi and Ruth in a message entitled “The Faith Behind the Faithfulness”. The vivid account is a telling reminder of that most essential characteristic that must form the bedrock of our lives.

For the next several weeks we turn our attention to one of the smallest but most loved books in all the Bible. Out of the sweeping, tumultuous history that is the period of the Judges, comes the encouraging, personal account of an obscure, ordinary family deeply impacted by a season of unprecedented hardship and suffering. Out of which emerges a story of unprecedented faithfulness, both theirs and God’s. We begin with a general introduction to that book in a message entitled “Ruth: Faithful Lives in Fateful Times”. We do not get to choose the times in which we live—but we do choose the way we live in the midst of those times. And no matter how difficult the times, God is always faithful and faithfully about his work.