Christopher Rich – January 7, 2024
RUTH | From Barren to Blessed
Hope in Desolation | Ruth 1

Introduction |From Bitter to Blessed
Good Morning! Merry Christmas! Welcome to Mercy Fellowship where we are Saved by Jesus Work,
Changed by Jesus’ Grace, and Living on Jesus’s Mission. Today we begin RUTH: From Bitter to Blessed.

How are you? How are we? Our current world is characterized by chaos and upheaval as nations rage,
economies faulter, cultures are in decline, and families are disintegrating. In a macro climate of instability
and fear we can easily find ourselves overwhelmed trying to understand the world around us, so we attempt
to remain focused on our individual lives and story. Yet our communities, families, and we ourselves are not
immune to suffering, trauma, or tragedy. We all face challenging moments, seasons, or circumstances which
are more than merely discouraging or unsettling, they bring us to places of desolation and despair.

How can I move on from this? When tragedy strikes, or we are under trauma’s long shadow, we are unsettled
is ways which keep us paralyzed with grief, stuck in despair, and unable to move toward anything that looks
like healing let alone flourishing. Suffering can cause to questions God’s goodness and leave us hopeless.
How many of us have been there for a moment or even a season? How many of us are there now? You’re
not alone. When we are blind to a path forward, we need the illumination that only divine hope can provide.

When all we can see is pain, we cannot see the path ahead. Stuck on the other side of trauma, grief, or loss we
can begin to wonder if there is a path forward, is there a reason for hope, or sometimes even if God cares
about us at all. Let me just say. He does. There is a real path forward, it’s not always easy. Hope, kindness,
intentionality, and sometimes even bold risks can all be part of our path of healing. Yet we need more than
ourselves, or others, if we are going to experience true restoration. We need intervention and care from the
God who is greater than our circumstances and who can give us both daily bread and eternal hope.

This leads us to the Old Testament Book of Ruth. Ruth is a short but powerful book about how God meets a
family who has lost it all and moves them from bitter to blessed. Even in the depths of great desolation and
difficult places we see God present and active bringing provision, healing, and even abundance and joy.
Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges where the Bible says “there was no king in Israel. Everyone did
what was right in [their] own eyes” It was a dark and nearly hopeless time for God’s people full of nationwide
lawlessness, famine, and idolatry. Yet in Ruth, God gives us a brief snapshot of Hope through one small
family in one small town, showing He is still active and working for the good of His people and the Glory of
His name in our individual lives, the lives of His people, across the world, and echoing into eternity.

PART I | Decade of Desolation | Ruth 1:1-5
Ruth 1:1-5 | In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in
Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was
Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They
were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But
Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the
name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both
Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.