Ruth 1:16-17
Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.

There was something VERY unique here. — Deep friendship.  Deep trust.  Deep respect.

Ruth 1:1-5
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Ruth 1:8-10
Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.” Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.

Here’s the deal for this disaster scenario that Naomi finds herself in:
She needs help. She can’t pull herself up on her own.
In her darkest moment, Naomi needed Ruth.

Ruth 2:2
And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.”

Ruth 4:13-17
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David”

So there’s your Bible version of a “and they all lived happily ever after”

What do we learn from this disaster scenario?

1. We need Deep Friendships

Every Ruth needs a Naomi and every Naomi needs a Ruth.
We need people who will encourage us to follow Jesus.

We need people who will look at our life situations, give us godly wisdom, encourage us to be more like Jesus and say “I’m with you heart and soul”.

**If you’re not yet in a discipleship relationship here at Living Faith, I STRONGLY encourage you to talk to your Life Group leader about that today.  

Press IN to discipleship ESPECIALLY when it hurts. 

2. We need to BE a friend for each other

Ruth looked at Naomi and said “your people are my people”
She chose friendship and community. 
She chose to live life with Naomi.
And when you do that, it’s a set up for deep friendships!

John 13:35
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend.

There’s so many Scriptures about how we as believers should love one another:

Love one another (John 13:24)
Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)
Honor one another above yourselves (Philippians 2:3)
Build one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50)
Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)
Confess sin to one another (James 5:16)
Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)

The list goes on and on!

It’s UNDENIABLE that when people in the world look at the people of God they should without question be drawn to us BECAUSE OF OUR LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.

3. We need to bring that level of friendship to a hurting world around us that doesn’t have much of a concept of it.

And you don’t have to have a degree in counseling to be a good friend to someone!

BE INTENTIONAL.
This world needs Jesus, and they will most likely see Him IN us. 
So invite them into that deep relationship with you.

Will you choose today to be known. 
Truly known.
To walk in deep community and friendship with these people in the midst of your highest highs
And in the midst of your disaster scenarios.