it's not over

Good Afternoon Friends, Family, Foes … Everyone

Yes, I am greeting everyone this afternoon

Remember I said in our post 'choose to love',

‘Not everyone who comes to check on you is checking to see that you are doing well’?

But, if they take the time to check – you should at least be cordial

Why? Because we love all people and we trust the Holy Spirit to move – with all people

Now, that is not directly my topic this morning – but it is still all about love

And this morning, I want us all to understand something: 

No matter what it looks like, no matter how it feels, irrespective of how long the storm has been raging, despite your weariness – it’s not over

 

We have spent a great deal of time talking about Naomi

However, I would like to shift gears and talk about Ruth – the namesake of our Bible book

Now, we already know how Ruth’s story ended

But it would have been really easy, at any point along the way, for her to believe it was over

Therefore, I would like to focus on how Ruth’s story evolved and the role that love played

Ruth faced loss similar to Naomi – they both lost husbands

But where Naomi turned to bitterness – Ruth focused on living in love

She loved Naomi enough to leave parents, friends, country and everything familiar

She loved her future enough to refuse to be stuck in the past

Sounds extreme but, as we’ve noted previously, love will make you do some things

Now, we know from yesterday that Ruth ended up with a new love story

She ends up catching the eye of a local bachelor named Boaz

But what was it that Boaz found attractive about Ruth?

In a culture where widows were seen as misfortuned, what would make him take a chance?

It was her faithful and sacrificing nature … it was her love

“I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:11-12

Ruth’s name means ‘compassionate friend’ and that is exactly who she was

Her reputation of being a loving friend went before her and spoke on her behalf

Boaz had been told of what a friend she had been to Naomi

It had reached his attention all the things she did in love for her mother-in-law

He had been made aware of her selfless nature

Selflessness is attractive – selflessness not selfishness

And Boaz quickly took notice

You will recall his name means ‘swiftness’,

Emphasizing how quickly a situation can change when you walk in love

Even when you think it is over, the LORD can turn things around with a swiftness

It’s not over

Love will position you to keep believing when it seems all is lost

Love can pave the way for you to begin again

Love refuses to let you stagnate, remaining frozen in the past

Love will propel you forward –

Love lets you know that it’s not over

It creates new beginnings for you – just like it did for Ruth

And aren’t we all glad that she did not stop walking and living in love?

After all, she ended up becoming Jesus’ great-great grandma by over forty generations

So today – whatever you are facing, 'Keep going! It’s not over!'

‘Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the mind the things God has prepared for those who love Him.’ I Corinthians 2:9

You never know what God has in store for you …

 Have a Blessed Day!

‘ I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future’

Jeremiah 29:11