The Point: God redeems and works in the most unlikely of places.

"There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle — the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend." -Jesus Storybook Bible

"In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons." -Ruth 1:1

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." -Genesis 3;15

"25 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." -Judges 21:25

"8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me." -Ruth 1:8

"13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." -Ruth 1:13

"16 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. " -Ruth 1:16

"20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 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?” -Ruth 1:20-21

"22 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." -Ruth 1:22

1) We doubt God's goodness

"13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." -Ruth 1:13

21 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?” -Ruth 1:21

"For Naomi, her circumstances indicated that God is great but not good. She was therefore mistaken to measure God's goodness by her level of happiness or her immediate circumstances…We often do this, do we not? We judge God's love and faithfulness by how many of our desires have been met. When our desires do not materialize, our words are telling. Angry, accusing words reveal the idols of our hearts-so do selfish prayers couched in pious and deferential language. Too often, it is not God's will that we want, but our will made possible by God. Had not Naomi made God the servant of her agenda? Do we not do the same?" -Dean Ulrich

"You are good and do good; teach me your statutes." -Psalm 119:68

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" -Psalm 34:8

"Bad circumstances don't change the goodness of God."

2) We become bitter

"20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 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?” -Ruth 1:20-21

1) Remember God has not forgotten you

"31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" -Romans 8:31-32

2) Trust in God's Plan

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." -Proverbs 3:5-6