God’s Mission in Ruth

Beloved People of God,

What happens to the mission of God when the world’s out of control?

Reading Judges, we might find ourselves asking that question. It can be hard to see the missionary heart of God in its stories. We see the mission of God in Genesis when He called Abraham. We see the mission of God in Exodus when God commissioned His people as a kingdom of priests for all nations. But after the book of Joshua, as the period of the Judges goes from bad to worse, we forget about missions. Judges’ tragic stories of idolatry, rash vows, unspeakable violence, and civil war, make missions a faint memory of a forgotten time. Asking that question, the answers we’re inclined to offer are pessimistic and bleak.

Looking around, you may be asking that question about life right now. If the news is to be believed, we live in a day when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. It doesn’t matter where you stand—left, right, or center of the aisle—everyone has their own solution for society. We’re consumed by our own fixations and fears. We spend our lives devoted to the idols of our own consumption—our political ideologies, social philosophies, and personal outrages. While we are so busy, the mission of God goes missing from our lives.

Friends, how have we become so busy that we’ve lost sight of God’s mission? It feels as though we have more in common with Elimelech and Naomi; in just trying to survive, we’re missing out on the purpose of our lives. We need to ask the Lord to get us back on track. And this is the shining light in the dark night of Judges. When all seemed lost and the mission of God disappeared from the heart of His people, the Lord reignited His mission through the example of a young, foreign widow named Ruth. Together, let’s ask God to surround us with the widow, the orphan, and the resident alien—who are deeply beloved by God—to help us recapture our purpose as His people of promise for all nations.

What happens to the mission of God when the world’s out of control? It keeps going. So, let’s be a part of it!

For Christ the King, 

Brett