Is Your Life Falling Apart?
Ruth 1 NIV
Sometimes life unravels slowly. Other times it collapses all at once. Plans fail, relationships fracture, dreams fade, and we’re left wondering how we got here—or where God is in the middle of it. But God is not finished with our story. He meets us in our bitterness, calls us back to Himself, and begins rebuilding what we thought was lost. When life feels broken beyond repair, redemption may be closer than we realize.
1. What prompts you to make a change: money; family; interests; health; preaching; Bible reading; Christian counsel?
a. Why do the concerns of this world hold so much sway over us?
2. Read Jeremiah 17:5-6;13 — Does this sound like what Elimelek and Naomi did?
a. Read Judges 2:6-13 —Who would or should have taught them how to trust in God? (No high priest is mentioned in the book of Judges.)
3. If you are in the wrong destination, how did you get there?
a. Have you been putting the blame for your situation in the right place?
4. Read Psalm 37:23-24; Psalm 71:19-21; Psalm 94:18-19; Jeremiah 17:7-8; 14 — How do we turn back to following God?
a. How do we continue going in the right direction?
5. Pastor Hinz said, “What we run from pursues us; what we face transforms us.” How could Naomi’s life have been different if they had stayed in Bethlehem when the famine occurred?
a. Have you seen this truth in your life?
6. Is there something about which you are feeling hopeless?
a. Is the situation one of your own making? If so, what actions do you need to take to begin going in the right direction again?
b. Do you believe the situation is from God or one he has allowed, like Job? If so, what is he trying to teach you or how is he trying to grow you?
c. Read Job 23:10; Jonah 1:1-4; 2 Corinthians 7:8-10; Hebrews 12:7, 10-11 —Does God ever work against his children?
7. Was there an attribute or promise of God in the sermon that stood out to you?
8. Have you seen God bring restoration when all seemed hopeless?