The missionaries had been teaching youth to plan and purpose. Then they were called to “Go where there are none”. They have been called to plant churches in a place where only one of five people know Christ – the Dutch Caribbean. These islands are beautiful to visit but are spiritual wastelands even though (or maybe because) they are considered one of the top sex vacation spots.
The message that was shared was about people who kept the faith based on the story of Ruth and Naomi. The pastor encouraged us to be determined like Ruth. We need to be devoted and available especially after a season of loss and change like recovery from the 2018 hurricane to slide into the disconnectedness of Covid-19.
Naomi and her husband were in a time and place of famine, so they left home and moved to Moab survive. After her husband died, her two sons married Moabite women but hey died ten years later. Naomi told her daughters-in law to go back to their homes and families. Naomi insisted she had nothing to offer the girls. Ruth put aside her traditions and history and determined not to leave Naomi although neither had anything. Ruth 1:16-18, Ruth 2:11-12. Ruth was led to surrender to a new God, a God who calls each of us to a life of devotion.
The church needs to be prepared to serve people who have nothing to offer us back. God gave His only son to us; Jesus gave his life for us. That is how much He is devoted to us.
Devotion leads to Devine appointments. By surrendering to Naomi’s God, and devoting herself to caring for Naomi, Ruth met Boaz, her kinsmen redeemer. Ruth 3:7-13. Ruth became a mother in the line of David. Ruth 4:17-19.
We all go through Seasons of life where God prepares us. We need to listen to be spirit filled. We need to keep busy where we are until God directs us to the next phase. As the old saying goes, “it is easier to steer a moving car than a parked one.” God uses people because they are available, surrendered. We can accomplish much through Christ that we could not achieve on our own!
The missionaries were helping their youth group by selling pumpkins to raise money. A photographer saw the parents and children and took their picture for the local paper. Another couple they had not seen for ten years had been delayed in a nearby county. That couple were praying for more servants to help them. When they saw the picture, they called and got together. Now they are part of the same missionary team. By being available, our missionaries met a divine appointment with other missionaries. The photo was no accident, but rather a step to a divine appointment. (As I like to say, “It was not a coincidence, but a God incidence.”)
The husband was reluctant, not understanding why they were being directed to the islands instead of serving the church he was pastoring. Then he heard God say to him, “The people in the Caribbean are worth it.” Sometimes God calls us to sacrifice our own comfort to help others. To move his family there may mean a time of separation from their own parents, but they realize that they will be with their family for all of eternity.
God wants to pick us up and redeem us. Ruth made herself available. She laid at her redeemer's feet and Boaz gave her (and Naomi) a place at the table.
Have you made yourself available?
The young pastor also gave a word that he felt our church was soon to enter a time of restoration. The whole message fit perfectly with the tone of our Interim Pastor as he has been preparing the church as we seek a new pastor.
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I always enjoy when God sends me on a search for the right song and I find many to add to my large list! Sometimes I come back to the beginning, but I get to enjoy an hour or more of worship while getting there.
I have chosen this song as I was drawn to the phrase “Your presence is an open door”…
Won’t Stop Now.
Verses for Today:Won’t Stop Now.
(If you want a video with just the lyrics, try this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GZBITSyAsY)
Ruth 3:11-12
11 Boaz replied, “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 before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Lord, I thank you for your redeeming grace and your divine appointments. I do feel You are beginning to restore after time of disconnectedness.
11 Boaz replied, “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 before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
Lord, I thank you for your redeeming grace and your divine appointments. I do feel You are beginning to restore after time of disconnectedness.
