Okay, good evening. It's good to be here again, once again tonight. Glad you guys are here. Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman, a devout Christian believer who lived in Chicago during the 19th century, but his life is marked by tragedy. I don't know if you've heard of him before, but he lost a lot of properties and real estate holdings in the 1871 Chicago Great Fire. His only son died shortly thereafter. And despite these setbacks, Spafford remained committed to his faith in Christ and continued to work tirelessly to help others, including those affected by the fires. In 1873, Spafford decided to take his family on a trip to Europe, hoping that the change of scenery and the opportunity to meet with believers in Europe would lift their spirits. Spafford's wife, Anna, and their four daughters boarded a ship named the Vieux de Havre and set sail for Europe. However, tragedy struck the Spafford family once again when the ship collided with another ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and sank, and it killed 226 passengers, including Spafford's four daughters. Upon receiving the news of the tragedy, Spafford immediately boarded the ship to Europe to be with his wife. And while on the journey, Spafford wrote a poem that would be later set to music and has become one of the most beloved hymns throughout our time, throughout the Christian centuries. One of those lyrics in that hymn says, though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that Christ hath regarded my helpless state and hath shed his own blood for my soul. It is no doubt that we will experience trials in our lives. It's not if they'll come, it's when. When will the trials come? And as we've been learning through the book of Ruth, we've learned that the reason they left Bethlehem on the way to Moab was because of famine. There was trial. And they decided to pick Hector bags and move to Moab. But while they're in Moab, 10 years later, Naomi loses her husband. Orba and Ruth lose their husband and tragedy strikes the family again. Ruth hears about there being food has been returned to Bethlehem, so she goes back to Bethlehem. And as you learned this morning, Ruth, it goes with her. She has an undying commitment to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi. That her God will be Ruth's God, and Naomi's people will be Ruth's people. So they're going back to this town of Bethlehem. And that's where we find our story today in Ruth 1, 19 through 22. And this is what God's word says. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the woman said, is this Naomi? She said to them, do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? So Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Let's pray. God, thank you for your word that is such a blessing to our hearts. Lord, help us learn from this story of Naomi and Ruth, this beautiful story that is penned for us in the pages of scripture. Use it to transform our hearts and minds, God. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. We must realize that God allows trials in our lives. And we must not doubt him in those trials. Even though the days may be dark and the days may lead us to despair, God is always working. John Piper said this, that God may be working on 10,000 things in your life, and you may only be aware of three of them. So God is always moving in the background. Whether we realize it or not, God is working. Even in the dark and times of despair, God is still moving. The scripture says that the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. So when they got to Bethlehem, when they arrived, everybody recognized Naomi. It says the whole town was stirred because of them. So they're like, this is Naomi's back. Naomi's back. But she's back with herself. She's not with her husband. She's not with her sons. She's there by herself with this Moabite woman named Ruth. And all the women of Bethlehem said, is this Naomi? Because she left full, but she came back empty, in Naomi's own words. So the whole town, whether they mean to or not, are talking about Naomi, wondering what happened to her. In Naomi's words, in verse 20, she says, do not call me Naomi. Call me Mara. That's interesting, because Naomi means pleasant, a pleasant one. But Mara means bitter. So Naomi says, I left pleasant. but I'm coming back home better. And then she says this, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. Now it's interesting that everything that happened to Naomi and in her life, she attributes it to the Lord, to God Almighty and to the Lord. In her theology, whatever has happened has happened to her because God has allowed it to happen to her. And whether she knows it or not, her theology is true. That God has allowed these trials to come upon her life for whatever reason, and she recognizes it, that the Lord Almighty has allowed this to happen. Now we don't know the why yet, but we do know that Naomi lost her husband, she's lost her sons, and she's come back home with Ruth. We must recognize God's presence in our tribes. I know it's hard when we're going through them, it's hard to admit that God has allowed this to happen to me. But if God has allowed this to happen to me, then God has a purpose behind the trial. God has a purpose behind the trial. God doesn't just wave his hand and say, well, I'm going to play with Josh today. No. God has purpose. And one of those purposes is to conform us to the image of Christ. And we must recognize that. That God has a purpose. We must recognize that God is working in our lives for His glory. And God's presence is there with us in our trial. Whether Naomi realizes it or not, or Ruth realizes it or not, God is with them still, and God has a plan for their lives. Naomi goes on to say in verse 21, I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? And I don't know what Naomi's thinking right now. I'm assuming that she may think that God is punishing them for leaving Bethlehem and going to Moab. Leaving the land of promise and going to a land full of idolatry. And Naomi's trying to understand why did this happen to me? And she is saying that God did this to me maybe as a punishment for leaving to Moab. She's trying to make sense of all the calamity. And we do the same thing. When we're going through hard times, we're like, God, why are you doing this to me? Why am I going through this? And we're trying to understand what's going on. And that's what Naomi's trying to do. But it's interesting that she says, I went away full and the Lord has brought me back empty. But we know that's not true because somebody is with her. This person named Ruth is still with her. And although she feels empty because she don't have a husband, she don't have any sons, the Lord has provided her with someone to be with her. And that person is Ruth. And she says, Why call me pleasant when the Lord is against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me? Notice the two names that she uses for the Lord. Almighty, which is El Shaddai, and she's saying God is still great. God is still great. He's almighty. He's in charge of everything. But still she uses the name Lord, which is the covenantal name of God, which means God is still good. to his people, God is great and God is good. And deep down, I think Naomi recognizes that even though she's going through these trials, that God is still great and God is still good. I just don't know why this is happening. And we all feel that sometimes. We all know when we're going through hard times, God is great. God is good, but why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me? Which leads us to our second point, that we must acknowledge that in our trials, that God is still great, God is still good, and we must trust in God's sovereignty. We must trust that God is still great and on the throne and he's in charge. But we also must trust that God is still good, and God still loves me, and God still cares for me. And I think that's what Naomi's doing, that, hey, I'm sad, I'm depressed, I'm in despair, I don't understand what's going on, but God is great, and God is good, even though I'm experiencing all this bitterness and despair. And I think it's a cry for Naomi to say, God, I'm trying to understand what's going on. Help me. Help me. Help me. So although she thinks she's empty, she still has Ruth. She still has Ruth, her Moabite daughter-in-law, who's with her. And that's what verse 22 says. So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Ruth is still with her. We don't know as far as this point in the story. Of course, if you read the book of Ruth, you know what happens. But at this point in the story, we do not know why Ruth is with her. We just know that Ruth made an undying commitment to be with Naomi. That God was going to be her God. And that Naomi's people are going to be her people. And Ruth the Moabite left Moab in her undying commitment to Naomi, her mother-in-law. They left Moab and returned to Bethlehem. And what we must see in the life of Naomi is God's provision and redemption for her is in Ruth. In Ruth, God is gonna provide for Naomi and God is gonna redeem Naomi. And in our trials, we must recognize God's provision and God's redemption in our lives. That even though we're going through a hard time, even though it's difficult, even though we are in despair, God is still gonna provide for me. and God is still gonna redeem me no matter what I'm going through. And that's what we see here in the life of Naomi and Ruth in these few passages, 19 through 22, that although she's going through a very hard time, she recognizes God's presence in her trials. And even in her confusion and in her despair, she acknowledges God's sovereignty and says, God, I know you're great. God, I know you're good. Help me. And although she does not see it yet, through the life of Ruth, God is gonna provide for her. God is gonna redeem her from her disparity. where she thinks she's empty, God is going to bring fullness back to her life. And that's what we have in Christ. You know, before we came to Christ, we were empty. We were without hope. We were people in darkness. But Christ opens our eyes and he brings us fullness of life. He brings us into eternal joy. He provides for us and redeems us from our sins. And in Christ, we have hope. Just like in Ruth, Naomi is gonna have and experience hope. And that's where the end of verse 22 leaves us. At the end of verse 22, it says this, and they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Now for us, that may mean nothing. You know, barley harvest, that doesn't mean anything to me. But for people who live off the land, that means everything to them. That means everything to them. And if you know anything about God's law, which we'll discover in chapter 2, that people who owned land and had harvest to reap, they were asked to, by the law of Moses, to leave the outer edges for those who didn't have, like Naomi and Ruth. So what we'll discover is that when they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest, there is hope for Naomi and Ruth. And in chapter two, we'll see why that leads us to hope. We'll see why that leads us to hope. But getting back to Horatio Stafford, when he got back on his boat headed to Europe to be with his wife, One of the verses in the poem that he wrote says this, when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. And that's where we need to pray for God to take us, no matter what difficult time we're going through, or what despair we're going through, God, I know you're great. God, I know you're good. God, I do not understand why I'm going through this. But it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. Let's pray. God, thank you for your word. It's so beautiful and great.