Lessons From Ruth: Faith in the Midst of Suffering
July 30, 2010 – 10:05 am
When you read the little Old Testament Book of Ruth, you find a treasure trove of reminders of God’s sovereignty and goodness – especially in the midst of suffering.
Ruth, a foreigner, showed amazing faith and trust in the God of Israel, in the midst of her own personal struggles and tragedy… (the death of her father-in-law, her spouse, and certain poverty).
But here’s one lesson we learn from Ruth: Suffering fertilizes our faith.
Tragedy caused Ruth to trust God in a way she never would have. Tragedy can either cause our faith to grow or cause us to be bitter.
When my wife and I first got married, we planted some little azalea bushes in the front yard. One day, while we were at work, my dad came over to fertilize our lawn. In the process, he scattered the ferilizer pellets on our new bushes, which eventually killed them. What was meant to bring growth — misapplied — brought death.
Just like that fertilizer, suffering will either grow our faith or diminish it. And that depends on what we believe about God.
Rom. 5:3-4 “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…”
Suffering well means learning to trust God in our suffering. Rejoice because God is at work in your circumstances to grow your faith, to strengthen you, to produce endurance and character and hope — all for His glory AND for our good.