Ruthless Redemption- Part 3

This past Sunday was the last installment of the Ruthless Redemption Series on the book of Ruth by Russ Ramsey. I have to say, this has been one of my favorite sermon series, because it has been so relevant to me. This week focused on the 4th chapter of Ruth and the concepts of Desire and Expectation. The questions that Russ asked were "What are you willing  to let your heart desire?" and "How do you manage pain and expectations?"

This one hit close to home for me this week. Almost my entire life I have lived by the motto of "I'll believe it when I see it" and "Don't get your hopes up." I know that sounds sad, but coming from an alcoholic home, I have seen too many hopes and desires get shattered. I used that as a defense mechanism to keep my heart from getting hurt. It didn't work most of the time, which in turn just made me lower my expectations of people.

This sermon made me dive into those emotions and defenses and really examine them. It made me question how I deal with pain now and how I deal with life when expectations get shattered.

Russ offered two ways to deal with our pain that came from two blessings that were given in the book of Ruth:

1. Depend on God to step in and miraculously intervene in the middle of the pain.  God knows the hurt we face, and He can heal our hearts if we depend on Him and allow him to step into that pain with us.

2. Deal honestly with our pain by seeing it through the lens of loss that you experienced, not denying our hiding it from yourself or the world. You don't have to pretend that you have it all figured out or that you didn't suffer the loss, or the hurt of failed expectations. You just have to deal with it and honestly seek healing.

This sermon couldn't have come at a better time for me. It was delivered on my 30th birthday; a day filled with failed expectations on my part, and the pain of spending this momentous milestone birthday alone. It is so comforting to know that I am never alone with God, and He is the only one that can love my heart completely. He is awakening new desires in me that I have buried for so long, and I am starting to recognize the desires to love and be loved again. It is wonderfully painful because I am a beautiful mess.