Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Janet Kobobel Grant is the collaborator with Fern Nichols of Every Child Needs a Praying Mom and the author of several Women of Faith Bible studies. She lives with her husband in Santa Rosa, California.

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Model Your Life on the Great Women of the Bible Who Trusted God and Found Him Faithful.Studies of 6 women from the Bible--each with 6 sessions--for personal reflection or group study.Through intriguing stories of biblical women, the Women of the Bible study series helps readers see how God wants to work in their lives. Questions and activities are designed to encourage personal application, understanding, and prayer, and to foster interaction within study groups. Each chapter includes 8 sections: Opening Narrative, Discussing the Story, Sharing Your Story, After Hours, Setting the Stage, Behind the Scenes, Prayer Meetings, and Words to Remember. The leader's guide makes it easy to facilitate weekly Bible studies to nurture knowledge of Scripture and a sense of God's presence in life.Esther: a Jewish orphan who became queen of Persia and saved her people--Choose to be a woman God delights to use no matter what the circumstancesMary: a young woman who said yes to God’s incredible plan for her life--Obedience can be a joyous choice that is blessed by GodDeborah: a leader of Israel when God's people were in a period of great decline--Faith, courage, and devotion toward God have a powerful impact in a woman's lifeHannah: a woman who poured out her heart to God and received a miracle--Understand the wisdom and importance of committing dreams to GodSarah: a woman of faith whose insecurities sometimes got the better of her--Face life's uncertainties, move beyond fear, and enjoy a faith-filled relationship with GodRuth: a daughter-in-law who left her own people out of loyalty to Naomi--Trust the Lord through faith and action in difficult times

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Trusting That God Will Provide

Zondervan Publishing Company

Chapter One

When times are difficult we can trust the Lord.

The sky metamorphosed slowly from gray to pink. The threewomen, wearing heavy veils that announced their widowhood,trudged along without speaking.

Ruth sighed. She and her sister-in-law, Orpah, had started out thejourney from Moab to Bethlehem trying to act cheerful and enthusiastic.They had sung songs until they couldn't think of any more. Thenthey sang all the old ones again until they were sick of them. Then theytold all the jokes they could remember. Eventually they fell silent andjust walked. Ruth felt as though they had plodded forward for a verylong time. But they still had a long way to go, and this was only the secondday of their trek.

Ruth's calf muscles ached. The pack on her back rubbed sores createdthe day before, and the weariness sitting on her shoulders lingeredfrom a sleepless night. She had known many such wakeful nights sinceher husband had died.

Even now her mind turned to thoughts of Mahlon, with his largebrown eyes, slow smile, and slender fingers. He'd had a tender spiritthat she depended on. But his gentleness hadn't saved him from thefever that quickly wasted his body and stole his life-the same feverthat took his brother's life. She pushed the images of Mahlon's hot faceand fiery eyes out of her mind. She didn't want to remember that part.She would remember him before the illness. Before widowhood.

"Widow," Ruth softly uttered the word, still trying to assimilate it asher new designation. It was a willowy word without substance thatswayed with each breeze of adversity. Much like she felt withoutMahlon.

She glanced over to Orpah. Pretty Orpah, of the dancing eyes andfeet, was lost in her own thoughts. She didn't seem as pretty now-nowthat the music had left her life.

They felt sad and lost, both of them. But no more so than Ruth's widowedmother-in-law, Naomi, who trudged on slightly ahead of theyoung women. Maybe she was eager to be home in Bethlehem, out ofMoab. Or maybe she was pushed forward by a sorrow that propelledher like a prod in the back. Naomi had always stood rod straight, backunbent, but now she walked with stooped shoulders, worn down by theburden of so many losses. Her spirit seemed almost broken.

The two young women were moving to a new town because ofNaomi. That she might find consolation with her old neighbors. Thatshe might sit around the evening fire with friends who rememberedmore joyful times-before the famine caused Naomi's family to move,before her husband had died, before she had lost her sons, before tenhard years had passed. Maybe the light in Naomi's eyes, her lively spirit,and her lovely smile would return. And maybe she would find her Godagain, the God whom she seemed to have lost. The God she had believedin wholeheartedly when Ruth first met her.

For Naomi, Ruth had packed her few belongings and set her mindto move to Bethlehem, to give up her gods, to become the foreigner-andto be seen as a heathen one at that.

For Naomi you will do this, Ruth told herself, shooing away a fly. Thesun began gathering its heat and directing it onto the widows who hadso far to walk. So she can find life and her God again, you will do this ...

Setting the Stage

WHICH WAY IS HOME?

Like Ruth, Naomi, and Orpah, the characters in The Wizard of Ozembark on a quest that requires courage, caring, smarts, and a longingfor home. This week before the group meeting, think about the Oz story,or if you have time, rent a videotape of the movie or read the book.

Based on the tape, book, or your memory of the story, think aboutthe adversities that each of the main characters faces. Write down theways the cowardly lion overcomes his fears, the tin man discovers hisheart, the scarecrow finds his brain, and Dorothy finds her way home.

Then answer the following questions:

Which character do you identify with the most?

What adversities do you face?

What keeps you from believing in yourself?

What tornadoes have separated you from "home"?

What do you need to feel "at home" with yourself spiritually, mentally, and emotionally?

What might be the "yellow brick road" in your life?

What clues does the movie offer to help you to overcome your fears, discover your heart, develop the confidence to use your brain, and find your way home?

Write down what needs to change in your life for you to be "at home"with yourself. Prayerfully set goals of how you can reach home. Commityour discoveries to God. Ask him to work in your life through Ruth'sstory.

Discussing Ruth's Story

MANY CHOICES

Ruth steps out of her culture and into the murky waters of an unknownfuture. The only visible stepping-stones have uninviting names: widow,poverty, foreigner. She has a difficult journey ahead of her, with manychoices to make. But the biggest and foremost choice centers on whetherto believe in God and his ability to provide for her.

Before you begin the discussion, read the Bible text, Ruth 1:1-18.

1. Ruth 1:1 establishes the time in which Ruth lived. What insights does Judges 2:10-19 offer you about this era? How might it feel to be a widow in this culture?

2. After reading Ruth 1:2-5 and the Behind the Scenes section, "Unholy Neighbors," on page 24, do you think Elimelech was trusting God to provide when he moved his family to Moab to escape the famine? Why or why not?

3. Ask three women to role-play the parts of Ruth, Naomi, and Orpah. Have the three of them hold a press conference, with the others in the group playing the part of the Moabite press. Ask the women questions about their leaving Moab and moving to Bethlehem emphasizing questions about how the women feel concerning this relocation. As they answer, have the press write down the emotions each woman expresses. When the press conference is over, add any other emotions the group can think of that Ruth, Naomi, and Orpah may have been feeling.

4. What choices did each of the women face after their husbands died? What was difficult about each choice?

5. What does Orpah and Ruth's response to Naomi in verses 8-10 tell you about these daughters-in-law? How could the emotions you listed in question three affect their response?

6. What does Naomi reveal about her relationship to God in verses 11-13? What does Ruth's response in verses 14-18 reveal about her view of God? How might these opinions about God affect the two younger women's choices?

Sharing Your Story

EENIE, MEENIE ...

When difficulties darken our doorstep, hard choices confront us. How canwe-like Ruth, Orpah, and Naomi-decide what to do? How can welearn to lean on God and trust him to provide what we desperately need?

One place to start is understanding the word provision, which derivesfrom a Latin word meaning "foreseeing, forethought, precaution, providing."God gives forethought to our needs, foresees the choices wemake, and takes precaution to insure we'll be provided for. What blessedassurance that he is trustworthy!

1. What is the most difficult choice you've made in regard to God's provision for you?

2. Look at the list of...