A SWEET & BITTER PROVIDENCE

Pg 45-46 http://www.desiringgod.org/media/pdf/books_bsbp/BSBP.pdf

2. God’s Mysterious Providence
God’s providence is sometimes very hard. It’s true, God had dealt bitterly with Naomi—at least in the short run, it could only feel like bitterness. Perhaps someone will say, “It was all owing to the sin of going to Moab and marrying foreign wives.” Maybe so. But not necessarily.

Psalm 34:19 says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament promises that believers will escape affliction in this life. “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19). The one who suffered most deserved it least: Jesus Christ. There is no sure connection
between our suffering and our behavior. It is not at all certain, therefore, that Naomi’s affliction was owing to God’s displeasure with her.

But suppose Naomi’s calamity was owing to her disobedience. That makes the story doubly encouraging because it shows that God is willing and able even to turn his judgments into joys. If Ruth was brought into the family by sin, it is doubly astonishing that she is made the grandmother of David and ancestor of Jesus Christ. Don’t ever think that the sin of your past means there is no hope for your future.

3. God’s Good Purposes

That leads to the third lesson. Not only does God reign in all the affairs of men, and not only is his providence sometimes hard, but in all his works his purposes are for the good and the greater happiness of his people. Who would have imagined that in the worst of all times—the period of the judges—God was quietly moving in the tragedies of a single family to prepare the way for the greatest king of Israel?

But not only that, he was working to fill Naomi and Ruth and Boaz and their friends with great joy. If anything painful has fallen on you to make your future look hopeless, learn from Ruth that God is at work for you right now to give you a future and a hope. Trust him. Wait patiently. The ominous clouds are big with mercy and will break with blessing on your head.