BREAKING THE LIMITATIONS, SETTING THE PACEMessage by Rev John William, preached at the SIB Metro Church Sunday
Evening Service at 6.00 p.m. on 28.09.2008 Breaking the Limits, Setting the Pace The goal of this
message is first, to define limitations,
second, to list its negative effects on us. Third,
to break free. Fourth, to have the power to move forward. We are dealing with a condition that was caused by
limitations and its negative effect on a person. To break the limitation we
need God and us working together to set the pace and to have the power to move
forward. Limitations are caused 1) by circumstances; 2) by others and 3) by
ourselves. This evening, I would like to talk about limitations set by
circumstances. Scripture Text : Ruth What was the
condition Naomi was in? First, there was famine in the Promised land. This is an experience faced by believers in God,
i.e., in the midst of God’s promise, there is an apparent lack of
provision. (Bethlehem= House of bread and yet famine) Second, her family
had to uproot and dislocate (not relocate) (see Hebrews 12:12-13). They were
dislocated from the Promised Land to the forbidden land of Moab. Our
desperation does sometimes lead to disobedience. There her husband died and
after 10 years both her sons died too. What were the effects
on Naomi? First, She became very practical
and streetwise. In Ruth 1:8-13, she advised her two widowed
daughters-in-law to return each to her mother’s house for better prospects
of remarriage. Second, She felt grief
because of her adverse circumstances (vs 13).Third
bitterness, as she felt that the Lord has dealt very bitterly her (verse
20). She felt her loss and ensuing emptiness. She felt as if the Lord has
testified against her and afflicted her (verse 21). In such a situation, it is
hard to think positively of God when one holds Him responsible for one’s
misfortunes. Breaking the limits-God and Us First, our part. In Ruth 1:6, Naomi heard that the Lord had
visited His people by giving them bread. This visitation means God had
“attended to their needs” by supplying bread. There is a flicker of
hope from hearing a good report. So she had decided
to return to the land of Judah, the land of Promise. In Ruth 1:16, 17, we read
of Ruth’s confidence, faithfulness and support to Naomi as she declared
to Naomi, “Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God, Where
you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do
so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth “made herself strong” to support the weak, vulnerable and marginalized
Naomi. It was this that attracted God's attention and released her into
becoming a heroine in the Bible. This is the sort of confidence, faithfulness and support we required
when we are devastated with our own misfortunes and is also the sort of
confidence, faithfulness and support we can give to those crushed and anguished
souls as Ruth did to Naomi. Secondly, God’s part. He does this
through His divine providence, Ruth was led to Boaz’s field as recorded in
Chapter 2 of the book of Ruth. Boaz was a kinsman redeemer, one who was
qualified to fulfil Jewish obligations of providing a
family for a widowed woman and begetting a child in memory of her dead husband.
Through this came the divine provision to Naomi recorded in
Chapter 3 and 4 of the book of Ruth because Ruth married Boaz, a child was born
and God proved His faithfulness. Setting The Pace 1.
The child born would become the father of Kings
which the Lord Jesus traced His human ancestry to. 2.
Ruth is set up as a model 3.
You and I are benefactors of Ruth's act of faith
and kindness. Here is the story of Naomi at the end as recorded for posterity in Ruth
4:13-22, “So
Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the LORD
gave her conception, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi,
"Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a close
relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! And may he be to you a restorer
of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your
daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne
him." Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a
nurse to him. Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "There is a
son born to Naomi." And they called his name Obed.
He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Now this is the
genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab;
Amminadab begot Nahshon,
and Nahshon begot Salmon; Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz
begot Obed; Obed begot
Jesse, and Jesse begot David.” (NKJV) The circumstances that appeared to be ‘absolute limitations’
were broken by two strong widows, Naomi and Ruth, this
was recorded in the Bible as example for generations to follow. It is an
awesome, almost unfathomable thing to appreciate and think and meditate, that
if Ruth had not been strong to leave her father, mother and home land to follow
her mother-in-law to the land of Judah, we, Christians would not have even been
in existence. Her breaking of the limitations of the circumstances she was in,
together with God’s grace and mercy in His providence and provisions, set
the pace for the eternal purpose of God in Christ, our redeemer. Has circumstances limited you? Rev John Williams |
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