Foreigner to Sojourner
The Glimmer of Hope Ruth Gave Me in a Chaotic Time
There I was, coming back to finish Bible time.
My Bible time got interrupted this morning. Life did what life does. But I have learned not to rush the presence of God, because nothing in my day gets better when I leave Him too quickly.
I refuse to rush His presence because a filled-up cup as a son of God is better than an empty cup as a son of God.
Nothing has ever burned down because I stayed with Him longer.
Nothing has ever been worse off because I did more Bible time.
Nothing has ever been neglected because I chose His presence first.
And that is where Ruth stopped feeling like an old story and started feeling like my story.
From ages nine to fourteen, I lived in three different homes. I bounced around homes in college, too. In many ways, I have always felt like an outsider.
And here is one strange mercy of getting closer to God. As He pulls you nearer, He also makes this world feel less like home.
There is a real wrestling between flesh and spirit. Some of you (and me) need to hear this; that is not strange. That is normal in the Christian walk.
So if you feel like an outsider right now, and you are in a season of wrestling, look at the God behind Ruth.
The Chosen Outsider
Ruth drops into the days of the judges.
In other words, chaos.
There was no king. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. So the story begins with tension.
Naomi, her husband, and her sons leave Bethlehem during a famine. Instead of staying in the place God had given His people, they go to Moab, a land marked by idolatry and long hostility toward Israel. Even the name Bethlehem, house of bread, makes their leaving feel heavier.
Then Naomi’s sons marry Moabite women.
The text does not explain every detail, but the silence matters. We are meant to feel the tension. From what we know, this was not a wise direction. God’s covenant people were not meant to bind themselves to the worship of false gods.
Then the losses come fast.
Naomi loses her husband.
Then she loses her sons.
Now Ruth and Orpah have a choice.
Go back to Bethlehem with Naomi into uncertainty.
Or return to Moab, to what is familiar and comfortable, to the gods they grew up with, and to better odds of remarriage and survival.
We know what Ruth does.
Out of deep love for Naomi, Ruth stays. But more than that, Ruth turns.
Your people will be my people.
Your God will be my God.
That is not a small decision made in isolation. That is a turning of allegiance motivated by someone outside of Ruth.
That is the mercy of God entering the story.
An outsider from a pagan people, a Gentile woman from a clan with a broken history (started by incest with Lot and his oldest daughter), is brought into the storyline that will one day lead to Jesus.
She chooses a long road, uncertainty, hardship, and possible lifelong widowhood. Yet when they return to Bethlehem, there is a small sign of mercy waiting for them.
The barley harvest was beginning.
That line is a glimmer of hope.
A Much-Needed Glimmer of Hope
And that is what I felt this morning.
When I read God’s Word and obey, I get a glimmer of hope even in a difficult season.
The ache underneath that outsider feeling ran deeper than unstable homes.
It was the ache of living outside the enjoyment of my heavenly Father.
The Ache That Still Rises
And that ache still tries to speak when pressure rises.
When medical issues flare up, when ministry growth has question marks, when family burdens pile up, when life feels heavy, the old outsider temptations start whispering again.
You are not valuable.
You are not good enough.
Your life does not matter.
You are behind.
You are on the outside.
This morning, God reminded me to release those lies and replace them with truth.
I was an outsider, but He brought me in.
I was orphaned, but He called me son.
I was empty, but He filled me up.
I was bitter, but He turned bitterness into praise.
I was helpless, but He gave me rest.
And God does not stay outside our famine, death, and sorrow.
He entered it.
At Calvary, Jesus stepped into the full weight of sin, judgment, curse, and death. He bore my sin on Himself so that by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, I would not stay outside.
So the pressure I feel today, from medical questions, ministry burdens, family issues, and the weight of many responsibilities, is not proof that God has left me.
It is a call to remember what is true and to replace what is a lie.
Many things remain outside my control.
But God never moves outside His.
Yes, this world is still fallen.
Yes, the curse still touches this present age.
But the deepest curse I bore was answered in Christ.
The deepest outsider problem I had has been settled by grace.
Never Finished Challenge
Remember and Replace.
Like Ruth, I was an outsider.
By the grace of God, through faith in Christ, I have been brought near.
I do not have answers to all my problems today. But I do have hope.
And I can continue this day with the answer to my biggest problem already secured.
Jesus is for me.
His Spirit dwells in me.
And He is making me more like Him every day.
So, Replace.
How do you take captive thoughts that are swirling in your head? Not by dwelling on those thoughts or trying to eliminate them.
You replace it with truth.
You put new thoughts in your mind.
Thoughts He wants you to dwell on.
Thoughts from His Word.
And as you dwell on the Light, the darkness becomes less dark every day.
So take inventory of what you are dwelling on, and, most importantly, dwell on things that speak of God, starting with His word.
What Does Today Say About God?
It says that He redeems outsiders.
It says that He meets bitter people with mercy.
It says that He plants signs of mercy in the middle of hard stories.
It says that His Word is not dry, outdated, or a joke.
It is life.
I recently tried watching a show that parodied Old Testament themes, and it made me sad. Because that is how so many people see the Old Testament. Strange, distant, or laughable.
But Ruth 1 was not a joke to me this morning.
It was life.
And that is my hope for you.
Give the God of Life more time.
Turn your eyes toward the God who redeems.
He is still bringing outsiders near through Jesus.
And He is not finished with your story.