Anxiety is a universal mental disease which wrecks our hearts and minds into endless cycle of fear and restlessness. Our Savior Jesus Christ has something very comforting to say in this passage, to those suffering with anxiety. Listen and be encouraged!
Blaise Pascal once said – “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” In this passage, we learn how to find our satisfaction and fulfillment only in God.
In the Bible, prophets, priests and kings have always been imperfect saviors of their own flock. Their leadership was always lacking, and the failures always pointed for a need of having a better savior. OT has always pointed to that One Perfect Savior i.e the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage, we see how Christ fulfills the need for a better Savior and protector of His people.
The Bible is filled with God’s promises. These promises are not primarily about God promising to provide for material things. It is about God promising to keep the covenant which He made to His people. However, it’s not just important to see how God kept His promises and will continue to keep them, but also realizing that even His children are called to be faithful to the covenant keeping God of the Bible.
It is so easy to confess that nothing is too hard or impossible with God, and that is true. But it is one thing to confess it but entirely another thing to demonstrate our faith in God’s power, or His ability. In this passage, we learn how to demonstrate and also experience the power of God in our lives.
God repeatedly reminds His people about His covenant love. Christian life is not just about understanding Christ’s love for us, and our response towards Him, but it’s also about understanding God’s Fatherly love towards us, which is an everlasting love.
Christians can never be hopeless or in despair because they always have God on their side for help. But in reality, most Christians have a tendency to doubt God’s presence and His goodness in their life, which leads them to be in despair. In this passage, we see how God’s providence brings Christians out of difficult and desperate situations.
What do you do when there ‘seems’ to be no answer from the Lord in your current situation? Would you still remain committed to God? Would you still have a level of trust in the Lord without any bitterness against Him? In this passage, we see three characters from the book of Ruth, who respond very differently to God’s providence in their lives. Their responses teach us what genuine commitment to God looks like.
The God of the Bible is a promise keeping God, therefore our hope shouldn’t be dependent on our ability to manage life, or our distorted commitment to God, but on His faithful and unending commitment to us.
Christian life is about learning to trust God simply because of His unfailing love towards us as His children, and also for God’s faithfulness in keeping promises throughout history. The reason why trusting and believing in God is essential for us to persevere in faith is because we’re incapable of handling circumstances and uncertainties in life by our own strength and wisdom. This passage shows us how we’re called to keep believing in God’s promises especially when the situation might appear unfavorable.