Dr. Michael Youssef offering you hope on this episode of Leading the Way. You might have given up hope. He will give you a new hope.
You might have lost your joy. He can restore to you greater joy. You might have allowed fear to seep into your life and to fill you with fear, but God can fill you with faith.
You might have allowed the worry and anxiety of this world to begin to swallow you up. He can deliver you from that. He may have allowed Satan to walk all over you. He can banish him out of your life. You may have allowed the devil to intimidate you.
He can empower you to step all over him because he's a defeated foe. What a privilege it is to welcome you to Leading the Way, featuring the Bible teaching of pastor and international evangelist, Dr. Michael Youssef. As life unfolds, we often end up facing the unexpected. Family and health challenges are often viewed as detours away from God and away from his plan. And yet we have to realize that God many times sanctions and strengthens us through those detours to draw us closer to him. Today on Leading the Way, Dr. Youssef wraps up his series, A Match Made in Heaven, looking into the life of Ruth. Tragedies splintered her family, and yet God ushered joy and purpose back into her life and family.
So listen with me now as Dr. Michael Youssef continues this powerful series. We often talk about hindsight being 20-20. And there are some who when they see things in hindsight, they are full of regrets. You know people like that, you may be a person like that. There are others in hindsight, they say, I would have done things really differently. In hindsight, I would have done this or that or the other thing. I'll make a confession to you. When I look back, I can tell you as God my witness, I will not change a one blessed thing.
I know some of you might be shocked by this. Others might think it's the height of arrogance to say that. But be patient with me, because that's not true. Why do I say this? Why do I testify to this? Because if you believe as I do that our God is a sovereign God, that our God is in control of our lives, you will feel the same way as I do. Namely that because of the sovereign God is in total control of every aspect of our lives, even in the failures, even in the detours, even in the delays, even in the heartaches, even in the dark alleys, and even in the foolish decisions, he overrules. For if your perspective on life is that you are living under the control of the sovereign God, then because of that perspective you will live above the temporary setbacks. You will live not in constant regret, that you will live above that regret, that you live above of what ifs and what ifs and what ifs and what ifs. When you have that eternal perspective, then you face setbacks and then you face detours and then you face delays, and as many of you know I've been through them all. You will see the hand of God at work, and that my beloved friends will keep you from walking in sorrow, will keep you from becoming bitter, will keep you from the muck of self pity.
Yes, it will keep you from being a cynic and a critic. When your life perspective is focused on the God of the impossible, on the God who overrules, on the God who gives us his best, on the God who uses the most unlikely people and the most unlikely circumstances and the most unlikely places to bless you, that my beloved friends will make all the difference in the world in your life and in mine. Can I get an amen?
Amen. This is the fourth and the last in the four part series from the book of Ruth, that little tiny book of Ruth in the Bible. I think it's the only book in the Bible that's named after a Gentile, particularly in the Old Testament. First we saw how Elimelech's family tried to short circuit God's provision and God's protection and they ended up in enemy's land in Moab. Secondly, we saw how God operates by appointment during those holding patterns that I talked about. Then we saw how our kinsman redeemer, just like Bauaz, he spread his cover over us.
He has redeemed us from our sin, he's redeemed us from our failures, he's redeemed us from our shortcomings, he redeemed us from our shortcuts, how he redeemed us even in the times when we wandered in the wilderness. Here we see the eternal perspective. I call it the helicopter view. And this chapter four is the helicopter view.
This is where the picture is so clear. And here we see in Ruth chapter four, Ruth getting married to Bauaz. Everybody loves a wedding, except the father of the bride.
He has to pay for it. But soon you'll find the deluge of God's blessings open from heaven and Bauaz and Ruth would have a baby boy. They named him Obed, which means servant of the Lord. From the grief and the sorrow of loss and the man in the family comes the father of Jesse. From the broken pieces that fall apart in the family, the Elimelech family, the repentance and returning and coming back home, comes the grandfather of King David.
From that grief and loss and pain comes the human ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David. But there's something here I don't want you to miss, don't miss it. Actually if you read the book, I don't know how many times you've read it, you probably missed that.
I missed it several times until this time I was reading it carefully. And how this book is absolute, that little book is saturated, it pulsates with prayer. In every part of it, it was saturated in prayer.
Let me give you examples. In chapter 1 verse 8, Naomi prays for her widowed two daughters-in-law. In chapter 2 verse 4, Bauaz greets his reapers in a form of prayer. In chapter 2 verse 12, Bauaz welcomes Ruth, gleaning into the field in a form of prayer. In 2 20, Naomi prays in thanksgiving to God for Bauaz's generosity and graciousness to Ruth.
And in chapter 3 verse 10, Bauaz responds to Ruth's visit to him in order to encourage him to say, it's okay to propose to me. He does that in prayer. And then in chapter 4 verse 11, all of the people in Bethlehem pray together in thanksgiving to God as they see the transaction taking place at the gate. Every aspect of life is covered with prayer, from the routine to the extraordinary, from the daily work to the daily interactions, from the private moments to the public moments. All, all of life lived in that perspective of the sovereignty of God in prayer.
I believe the little book of Ruth, if it teaches us anything, it teaches us perspective. Say that word with me. Perspective. Now I want you to hear me write because you may be going through a tough time right now. You may be going through difficult times right now. You may be going through a dark tunnel right now. You may be going through the inexplicable circumstances right now.
You may be going through uncertain future right now. I want you to remember that the book, your book of life has not been finished yet. This is just a chapter. Can I get an amen?
This is just a what? The book is not finished yet. It's not finished yet. Hear me write please. What God did for Naomi and Ruth, he can do for you.
All you need to do is to trust him fully, to trust him completely, and to trust him without hesitation. Listen to me. You may have given up hope. He will give you a new hope. You may have had shattered dreams in your life. He can give you a greater dream.
You may have lost your joy. He can restore to you greater joy. You may have allowed fear to seep into your life and to fill you with fear, but God can fill you with faith. You may have allowed doubt to threaten to choke you and choke the spiritual life in you, but he can set you free.
You may have allowed the worry and anxiety of this world to begin to swallow you up. He can deliver you from that. He may have allowed Satan to walk all over you. He can banish him out of your life. You may have allowed the devil to intimidate you. He can empower you to step all over him because he's a defeated foe. Don't allow the Spirit to be your companion, for the God of Naomi is our God.
Say that with me. The God of Naomi is our God. Look at verse 16. We see Naomi with unspeakable joy in the fact that's her old holding baby Obed at her bosom. Verse 17, the woman in the neighborhood gave him a name, Obed, and they said, a son has been born to Naomi. Is that really true?
No. Is a son to Ruth. They named him Obed because he was the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of King David. Of course he was Ruth's son, but spiritually speaking he was as much Naomi's son as he was Ruth's.
Hear me right. Obed was a sign of God's restoring power because of Ruth's faith in the God of Naomi, because Ruth's faithfulness to the God of Naomi, because of Ruth's loyalty to the God of Naomi. God blessed them both and he can bless you. I want to conclude by telling you an amazing story, an example of what God can do with a faceless, nameless person who is faithful to the Lord.
Because until you understand that and you realize that the book of your life hasn't been written yet, hasn't been finished yet, and whatever you're going through is only a chapter, but more to come. That person I know in my heart 90% of you at least, I want to be generous, 90% of you never heard of. You never heard of. He was less than an ordinary individual. He was not a famous preacher. He was not a famous teacher. He was not even a full-time minister. He probably was less gifted than 90% of you who are listening to me right now.
All he was, was an obedient to the Lord, and God used him to rock two continents for Jesus Christ. He was teaching a small class of boys in Boston, teenagers 15, 16. One day he sensed the Holy Spirit saying to him, you need to challenge these boys one on one, not just in teaching, but to lead them to Christ one on one. And so he decided to go and visit those boys at their workplace.
One of these teenage boys was a stock clerk in a shoe store in Boston. The Sunday school teacher nearly did not go into the store, and he had such doubt about going in, but then he literally felt the Holy Spirit was compelling him to go in and meet this young man and lead him to Christ. Few moments of conversation, that young man came to Christ, and the moment he came to Christ, he became on fire for Jesus Christ. He immediately developed zeal of telling others about Jesus and eternal salvation and the gift of forgiveness of sins. And he went to the pastor of his church, and he asked, can I teach a Sunday school class? And the pastor said, no. But he would not be deterred, thank God for people like that. He would beg people to come and be involved in ministry. This guy wouldn't take no for an answer. So he went out in the streets, and he led some bunch of white wood boys to Christ and until we reached about 30, he went back to the pastor, he said, now I got my own class.
Can you give me a room? I teach. And the pastor literally had to concede and let him teach that group.
And so he began that class, developed into a ministry that literally impacted the world for Jesus Christ. His name was D.L. Moody.
One of the D.L. Moody's biographers said that D.L. Moody depopulated hell by at least a million people. But that's not the end of the story.
If it's the end of the story, it would be a wonderful story, but it's not the end of the story. Moody preached in many parts of the US, but he preached in UK. And he was invited to preach in F.B. Meyer's church.
Some of you know that name. Now, F.B. Meyer was an Oxford graduate and very debonair and cultured British man.
F.B. Meyer had very little in common with this kind of rough-talking American evangelist, and he did not get along with him. When Moody shared his testament in F.B. Meyer's church in England about how that Sunday school teacher came into the store and led him to Christ, a member of F.B. Meyer's church, a lady who was teaching a girl's Sunday school class, felt challenged by that. And so she went out and visited every one of those girls, and she led them to Christ. And then she came and told her pastor, F.B. Meyer, she told him about what happened and how these girls are coming to Christ, and literally there is a revival going on in his church right under his nose. At that moment, Meyer became very convicted of his arrogance, and he asked Moody to forgive him.
And then the two of them became great friends. Moody invites F.B. Meyer to come and speak in the United States. As Meyer was speaking one night, he felt the constraint of the Holy Spirit of God on him. And he said, somebody in this group, there's a person in this group who's wrestling with the Holy Spirit. And he said the following words. He said, I want to say that to that person, that I'm sensing you're struggling in your spirit here and now.
I want to ask you, if you're not willing to do everything that God is asking you to do, would you be willing to be made willing? That young man's name was J. Wilbur Chapman. And that young man said to the Lord that night, I'm willing to be made willing. He was struggling with the Spirit of God. Chapman became a great evangelist, and he traveled the width and the breadth of this great nation.
Thousands of people heard the Gospel message from Chapman. But that's not the end of the story. As he was traveling across the land, he picked up an assistant, a helper, who was a YMCA worker, who happened to have been a former baseball player. I mean, this man was a rough-talking dude. But he took him to help him set up the meetings.
I had to go ahead of him and prepare for the meetings. And when Chapman could not preach anymore, this former baseball player stepped behind the pulpit, and he brought a whole new chapter for Gospel preaching in America. His name was Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday, in 1932, was invited to preach at a revival meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. And it was a great revival, a great crusade, a great opportunity for Gospel preaching. And as a result of this, a group of men, mostly farmers from Charlotte, North Carolina, decided to start praying, and started a prayer meeting. And they said, Lord, do it again in Charlotte. And as they prayed, do it again in Charlotte. The Holy Spirit of God began to convict them that they need to enlarge their vision.
They need to elevate their vision. So they began to pray, Lord, do something in North Carolina. And then the longer they prayed, the larger the vision became. So they started praying, Lord, do something in Charlotte that will impact the United States.
And then even then got convicted even further. And they began to pray, Lord, do something in Charlotte that will impact the world. It was that group of farmers, this group of men who invited a messianic Jewish evangelist by the name of Mordecai Ham to come and preach in Charlotte, North Carolina. The first night he preached was very little response.
It was very discouraging. It was very disappointing for everybody, including the preacher. But there were three teenage boys sitting in the front who were coming under conviction. So the next night they decided they're going to sit at the choir loft so they'll be away from the finger of the preacher. But they were not away from the finger of the Holy Spirit. And they came under conviction that second night they came and responded to the invitation. Their names, Billy Graham, C.D.
Wilson, and Grady Wilson, who were Billy's right hand, left hand man, his team, all the way until the day they went to glory. And even when I think of the hundreds of ministries around the world, like Operation Mobilization, that came about as a result of the Moody Bible Institute. Just think about this. And you realize it all began by the faithfulness of that Sunday School teacher. Listen to me.
Your story and mine may not become known like this. And you see the hand of God in all of these steps. But I'm absolutely convinced as I am standing before you today that you will have countless members of people, numbers of people in heaven who will walk up to you because the Bible said in heaven we will know everything and they will walk up to you and thank you for your faithfulness and for your faithful service. Because none of what I just told you that had taken place would have taken place if it wasn't for this nameless, faithless Sunday School teacher. I personally believe that in heaven this Sunday School teacher will receive all of the credit for all of the work, whether it be Moody or Graham.
I believe that with every ounce of my being. For without him probably there would have been no, I know God is sovereign, but it would probably be no Billy Graham, no Mordecai Ham, no Billy Sunday, no Chapman, no Meyer, no the old Moody. But the whole credit would be given to this man who most of you never heard of.
His name was Edward Kimball. If Edward Kimball had not been faithful and obedient to the Spirit of God, perhaps Moody would not have come to Christ. And this whole ripple effect of changing the world for God in 150 years plus, all this would have been told a different story. Now beloved, you lose the blessing when you're not faithful. You lose the blessing.
I'm always reminding myself of that. So we're the blessed ones who can serve and give and sacrifice. We're the ones who are blessed. Whether you're a Sunday School teacher, whether you're a greeter, whether you are a small group leader, home group leader, whether you are a Bible teacher, whether you are children, a Sunday School teacher or student ministry teacher, whatever faithfulness you are exercising in your ministry, you will not know what that means until you get to heaven.
And when you don't, you miss out on the blessing. And so this is a challenge and an opportunity for every one of us regardless of where you are. Would you say with me in a loud voice these following words, Lord, I'm willing to be made willing.
Would you say that with me? And then watch how God can use you. An encouragement to be willing to be made willing from pastor and author, Dr. Michael Yousaf. Hey, thank you for joining listeners worldwide for leading the way. And if you have spiritual questions, please speak with one of our leading the way pastors or counselors. They'd be so happy to answer your questions. Just fill out a short form at ltw.org slash Jesus and begin your conversation.
That's ltw.org slash Jesus. I want to thank God publicly. And thank you, the partners in the gospel for all that you have done during 2024.
And all that you're going to do in the future. Because God opened doors, I never dreamed that he would open. We have reached the unreached we have seen so many lives saved.
We've seen so many strengthen. So let me invite you to join us in this great opportunity of the December gift challenge. Invest in the eternal future of those in your neighborhood and neighborhoods like it around the world. Will you join Dr. Yousaf and leading the way on the front lines of worldwide ministry? Learn more at ltw.org ltw.org. Do it now. You can also call and speak with a ministry representative at the call center 866-626-4356 and the website again ltw.org. This program is brought to you by leading the way with Dr. Michael Yousaf.
