God Is Good to All, at All Times

Introduction

Our country is going through an absolutely unprecedented heat wave and drought. It has sparked wildfires in the Gironde region. Many families have lost their belongings, and others have been displaced. Frantz Galland also shares two photos of his pond in the Creuse: in one, the water is calm, as in a normal season; in the other, a scene of devastation where every fish has died. He buried 31 of them, huge carp along with pike. Where is God in all of this?

The first chapter of Ruth opens with exactly this kind of drought, one so severe it causes a famine. It is the time of the judges: a time of apostasy, a time of moral and spiritual decline, a time of violence and lawlessness where everyone does what seems right in their own eyes. It's one of the darkest periods in the whole story of God's people. And yet, in Bethlehem, there were places where the atmosphere stood in sharp contrast to the tragic decay of that era, where people showed solidarity and kindness to one another.

The author of the book is out to prove two things: first, that God's redemptive plan keeps moving forward despite human failure, and second, that it's possible to live a life of faithfulness to the LORD even in the middle of a period of spiritual collapse. This message can be summed up in one sentence: God is good to all, at all times. That's something you need to hold onto in the hard seasons.

Outline of the Message

1. Leaving the Land of Promise Without God (Ruth 1:1-5)

• Bethlehem is hit by famine, and Elimelech does what was common in the time of the judges: what seemed right in his own eyes. Without consulting God, he decides to take his family out of the land God had promised to bless and go to the land of Moab, a neighboring land of unbelievers.
• What was supposed to be a temporary stay (verse 1) turns into a permanent settlement (verse 2), long enough that his two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, marry Moabite women, something the law of Moses implicitly disapproved of, since a Moabite was not to enter the assembly of the LORD (Deuteronomy 23).
• A real tragedy falls on Naomi. First her husband Elimelech dies. Losing a spouse is no small thing. But then, as a widow, ten years later, both her sons die too. She loses her only remaining means of support for the rest of her life.
• In a fallen world, living life by our own judgment only multiplies our troubles and distress. And yet the rest of the story shows that God does not abandon this family. He steps in (quietly, but powerfully), through unexpected people and circumstances.

2. Returning to the Land of Promise with a God Who Is Near (Ruth 1:6)

• Naomi hears that the LORD had visited his people and given them bread. This isn't the first time God visits a people who had wandered from him. He did it when Adam and Eve disobeyed: they hid from his presence, and he came walking in the garden in the cool of the day to meet his creature.
• God visited his people by calling Abraham in Genesis 12 to become a source of blessing for all nations. He visited his people by calling Moses, Aaron, and the prophets to be his voice in times of spiritual decline.
• And finally, God visited his people by sending the Messiah. The book of Ruth fits into this larger story of redemption.

3. Returning with a God Who Is Sovereign (Ruth 1:7, 20-21)

• Behind Naomi's return, two things are inseparably linked. There is her decision: she wants to return to the land of her fathers. And there is the sovereignty of God who made sure she found out. She hears that the famine has ended. She could easily have never heard it. God put both the will and the doing in her heart.
• Human responsibility and God's grace go hand in hand, and they mark out your life every single day. Ask the Lord daily to motivate you, to inspire you to make good choices, to surround you with his grace so that you lean not on the enemy's lies but on God's promises, even when things don't go the way you planned.
• Frantz shares a testimony: for a week, he and Nelly had been praying to be able to visit his mother-in-law, who has terminal cancer. They wanted to speak with her once more about the gospel, to make sure she belonged to the Lord. Yesterday, his daughter Christelle called: "Mom is gone." They never got the chance to visit her.
• In everything God does, nothing falls outside the scope of his attributes: his sovereignty, his grace, his love, his justice, his will to save all people. If God hasn't answered your prayers the way you expected, he is sovereign enough to answer them another way. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
• Naomi believes in this sovereignty despite her bitterness. She calls God "the Almighty": "The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me... the Almighty has brought calamity upon me" (Ruth 1:20-21). She accepts his sovereign power over her life.
• Naomi doesn't understand everything, and yet she believes. She tells her daughters-in-law: "May the LORD deal kindly with you... may the LORD grant that you find rest, each of you" (Ruth 1:8-9). She prays that they would receive God's kindness even though she isn't experiencing it herself yet. That's a rightly oriented heart.
• It's precisely because Naomi surrenders to God's sovereign grace without benefiting from it in the moment that she sets out on the road. That's the true foundation of all obedience, not because you understand, but because God is sovereign.
• David is an example of this. In 1 Samuel 30, sent away by the Philistines, he arrives at Ziklag to find it plundered and burned by the Amalekites. His own men even talk about stoning him. "David strengthened himself in the LORD his God." He seeks God's will, sets out, pursues the raiders, and recovers everything, including the captive women and children.
• The enemy will use seasons of trial to try to make you believe a lie: that God has abandoned you, that he isn't answering, that he's punishing you. Come back to the ground of the truth of the gospel, not the ground of your feelings. "The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love" (Psalm 33:18).

4. Returning with a God Who Encourages (Ruth 1:14-18)

• The LORD is not indifferent to Naomi's pain at losing her husband and both her sons, because he is near to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirit is crushed (Psalm 34).
• The LORD wants to encourage her. Not tomorrow, not in a week, today, right now, and all through the seven-to-ten-day journey on foot back to Bethlehem. So God gives her a precious companion: Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who clings to her.
• What joy for Naomi to hear a pagan woman, who used to serve other gods, express her desire to turn to the God of Israel: "Where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God" (Ruth 1:16).
• What led Ruth to make such a decision? She saw the moral beauty of her mother-in-law. Naomi isn't bitter and closed off, she remains grateful. She's suffering, but she's grateful. Ruth had witnessed her response to the deaths of her husband and both her sons, her suffering, and her loyalty to her God.
• "So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem." A journey of 80 kilometers over rough terrain, taking more than a week on foot, not something you want to face alone.

Key Takeaways

• God is good to all, at all times, even in the darkest seasons of your personal history or our shared one.
• Living life by your own judgment, without consulting God, only multiplies your troubles. Elimelech leaves Bethlehem without asking, and loses everything in Moab.
• God remains sovereign even when you don't understand. Nothing he allows falls outside the scope of his attributes: his grace, his love, his justice, his will to save.
• Naomi calls God "the Almighty" even in the middle of her bitterness. That's a rightly oriented heart, and it's what makes the return possible.
• God encourages today, not tomorrow. He gives you brothers and sisters to make the journey with. The Christian life is meant to be walked together.

Personal Application

• What "Moab" is Frantz Galland inviting you to leave behind right now in your life? Where have you done what seemed right to you without consulting God, and where has it led you?
• When you've prayed and God hasn't answered the way you expected (like Frantz and Nelly with his mother-in-law), how do you respond? Do you return to the ground of God's character, or the ground of your emotions?
• Can you, like Naomi, still call God "the Almighty" when it hurts? What would that change about your prayers this week?
• Do you take time each day in the Scriptures to fill yourself with the truth of who God is, or do you let the enemy fill your view with his lies?
• Who is your "Ruth" on the journey you're on right now? And for whom are you called to be that companion God sends along the way?

Scripture References

• Ruth 1 (whole chapter)
• Deuteronomy 23
• Genesis 12
• Job 1:21
• 1 Samuel 30
• Psalm 33:18
• Psalm 34
• John 6:35
• John 10:10
• 1 Corinthians 10:13

FAQ

Why does Elimelech leave Bethlehem for Moab in Ruth 1?

Bethlehem is struck by a famine, and Elimelech does what was common in the time of the judges: what seemed right in his own eyes. Without consulting God, he decides to take his family out of the land of promise and go to Moab, a neighboring land of unbelievers. What was meant to be a stay turns into a permanent settlement, until his two sons marry Moabite women, something the law of Moses implicitly disapproved of (Deuteronomy 23).

How can Naomi believe God is good when she has lost everything?

Despite her bitterness, Naomi calls God "the Almighty" (Ruth 1:20-21). She accepts his sovereign power over her life. And because she believes in God's goodness without experiencing it herself in that moment, she prays that her daughters-in-law would receive it (Ruth 1:8-9). It is a rightly oriented heart that surrenders to God's sovereign grace, even when everything seems to say otherwise.

What should you do when God doesn't seem to answer your prayer?

Remember that nothing God allows falls outside the scope of his attributes: his sovereignty, his grace, his love, his justice, and his will to save all people. If God hasn't answered your prayer the way you expected, he is sovereign enough to answer it another way. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Immerse yourself in the Scriptures so you look at your circumstances not with physical eyes but with the eyes of faith.