12/04/2024
We have all been through tough moments of suffering when we wonder where God is and are confused about what he is doing.
If you read through the biblical narrative, you will soon have to let go of the conclusion that hardship means God is absent, distant, uninvolved, or uncaring.
Behind dark clouds of difficulty is a God who is actively working for the good of his children. ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ป.
Itโs important to recognize that the workings of Godโs grace arenโt always predictable or comfortable. Often when we think grace has passed us by, Godโs grace is at workโjust not in the way we expect.
The book of Ruth, one of the greatest biblical stories, contains a compelling and beautiful substory. On the surface, Ruth is a beautiful love story, and one of the few biblical stories with women as its main characters.
But there is a deeper, more significant love story in the book of Ruth. It is the story of Godโs unshakable, unstoppable love for his children.
This story of human hardship and human love is also Godโs assurance that he will exercise his wisdom and his sovereignty, he will remember his covenant promises, he will be faithful, and, through hardship, he will deliver gifts of kindness and grace to his own.
Although the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz is compelling, the one on center stage is the Lord. Through the vehicles of hardship and human love, God establishes the direction of the rest of the redemptive story.
At the end of the story, Ruth and Boaz have a son. โThen Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, โA son has been born to Naomi.โ They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of Davidโ (Ruth 4:16โ17).
These words give us a sense of what this story has been about all along. God doesnโt just deliver Ruth and unite her to Boaz, but he delivers to this family a son. This son, Obed, will have a son, Jesse, and Jesse will have a son, David, and ultimately out of David will come a son; the Son of David, Jesus.
Through this little story of hardship and love, God sets things in place to deliver something anything but little: the ultimate promise, the gift of gifts, the Savior, Jesus Christ, through whom Godโs redeeming love will flow.
God will work and continue to work his redeeming plan until that plan is complete; this is the ultimate story behind every other story. Remember that it is at the intersection of Godโs sovereignty and his grace that life and hope are to be found.
By the way, if you enjoyed todayโs Advent devotional, there are 24 more just like it in my free eBook, ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ. From now until Christmas Day, you can read my daily devotional, paired with a Scripture passage and prayer, to focus your heart and mind on the birth of Christ. Go to ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ.๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ/๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฎ๐ข๐ด to download the PDF or eBook for free today!
๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ง๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐: Lord of Heaven, your love is unshakable, unstoppable. I praise you that you have injected daily reminders of this great truth into my life. Keep me from ever losing sight of your covenant commitment to your peopleโrooted in your faithful and eternal love for your Son, through whom I pray, amen.
God bless,
Paul Tripp
