Ruth Ch. 1 Decisions Matter — Ruth 1

0:01 Isn't the rule if we start early, we're allowed to end late? How come No. It's the other way around. Oh, I'm sorry. If we start late, we're allowed to end early.

0:10 So Turn with me, if you will, to the book of Ruth. The book of Ruth. While you're doing that, I'm gonna open with a word of prayer. Father, we're grateful. Oh, so grateful that we can say that Jesus is lord of all.

0:30 We pray that if there's anybody here that they can't say that or hasn't realized that or doesn't understand what that means, we pray that they might come to that realization today. Lord, we pray that your time or our time will be spent well in studying your word and seeking after you. It's in your son's precious name that we pray. Amen. So I would say it's never a good thing for those of you who were here at the first service.

0:58 It's never a good thing when you see the the guy that's supposed to preach today sobbing in the first service. So it's it's probably gonna take me a little bit to get through this because the Lord has redirected my paths just a little bit. So I I started off, and I spent the last few weeks working on Ruth. And I've got, you know, a significant amount, 20 pages worth of notes here to try and get through. Come on in.

1:24 Come on, Wynn. We don't bite. You can... So... And yet, this little portion up here in the top of the first page is what I'm gonna have to talk to you about first.

1:38 You know, there's... It's an interesting life we live as Christians. Right? The Lord directs our paths in many ways. And for those of you who don't know me, I'd like to give you a little bit of my testimony, okay, to start with.

1:54 And I think I'm just realizing it even in the last few minutes, just how the book of Ruth is speaking to me. Okay? And I'd like to relate a little bit of that to you. I was really struggling, trying to figure out how I was gonna get through the whole book today. Well, I can waylay anybody's fears.

2:14 We're not gonna make it. Okay? I'm hoping to get through chapter one, and we may dip into a little bit of chapter two there. And the... One of the reasons is because the Lord laid on my heart this morning just how this is an act of obedience.

2:32 The fact that that I'm standing here with sweaty palms and a dry mouth already is an act of obedience on my part, if you didn't know that already. If you thought that I got up here because it was fun, or that I got a kick out of seeing y'all smiling at me, or maybe falling asleep later. I don't see anybody sleeping yet. That's not the case. And for those of you who are new here or have never been here before, you you would not know or you may not know that I don't speak every week.

3:04 Okay? We share the burden or the privilege of opening God's word amongst many of the men here, and some that visit as well. We feel strongly that those men who have a gift or have gotten the burden can share, whether they're a full time person or not. And so therefore, we go week to week with a different speaker every week. So where's Laura at?

3:33 Is she back there? Maybe she's not. I don't see Laura, but I know Ray speaks almost every week. Okay? And and we all know Ray, and I don't know how he does it.

3:44 I don't know how he does it because if you were to follow my week this week leading up to this point, you wouldn't... You would be surprised at how I... How many things were put in the way for me to stop, not come, or maybe to give up for the next time. You know, the Lord touches each one of us in different ways. We all have our strengths.

4:11 We all have our weaknesses. Okay? My strengths are that I'm a capable person. Okay? I'm not here to brag.

4:20 I I'm here to tell you who I am. And that is that I have been given many gifts. One of them is strong intellect. My strong ability to think things through allows me to control many circumstances. You might not see me controlling my circumstances by beating you into submission or forcing you to do something by my own force of will or or might.

4:43 But if you knew me well enough, you would know that I'm working around behind you or behind my wife or behind my kids as much as I possibly can to work the situation into the point where I have control over it. Okay? That doesn't sound very biblical now, does it? Unfortunately, the Lord has different plans for us. And fortunately for me, he gave me a realization.

5:19 Maybe it was a small little glimpse, a bright picture for a very short period of time when I was in high school, 16 years old, that said, You know what? You can't do this on your own. Try as you might, control as you can, you can't accomplish this on your own. And sitting in study hall that one day, I bowed my head before him and said, Lord, I can't do it on my own. I need your help.

5:48 I'm not sure I completely understood what I had done that day, but it has been affirmed to me many other times since then, shortly thereafter, that I committed my life to Jesus Christ. I believe that with all my heart, and I believe that there's no other way to have peace here on earth. It's important that you know that because when we talk through the book of Ruth, I think I identify with one of the characters. And those of you who have been there recently and read that book, or as we go through here, you'll you'll... Maybe maybe I wish I wasn't identified with this character, but probably the character I identify with the most, and probably the time we're going to spend the most time talking about, is the character of Elimelech.

6:49 We'll talk more about that. So a little bit more about me. There are two things, I think, stronger than any other aspects of the body life that point to the evidence of the Holy Spirit in and amongst us to me. Some of you may have been saved out of a terrible situation. Some of you may have seen your lives turned around at the coming of the Lord into your heart and and changed behaviors, it has gone a different way for you.

7:26 And that's evidence for you that you're able to walk every day. Some of you been maybe... Have been picked up from grief beyond measure and comforted by the Lord, and that's evidence for you. The two things that I'd like to point to today that are evidence for me are number one, the fact that a man will stand here that I know. I know him more than just the man that stands here every Sunday.

7:51 I know him to be a man with faults. I know him to be a man after god's own heart. I know him to be a man walking daily in a struggle, and yet he... Thank you. My wife's idea, not mine.

8:08 I have two, so I'm gonna need it. And yet, those things that are burdened on his heart or laid on his heart are what come out to me. Those are the things that show me the Holy Spirit's working here. The Holy Spirit and God's spirit is touching that man's life so that he's not just reading out of this book and delivering a message that maybe he took off the Internet. Those are coming from his heart.

8:45 He can see things working in his life. So I'm gonna attempt today to show you a little bit about my heart. Right? That's the thing I protect the most to try and keep from showing you just what's inside that deep heart. Well, it's deep inside of me is what I hope to show you a little bit about today and what my life says.

9:15 The other thing that that shows me the work of the Holy Spirit, shows me God moving amongst us is the work of the body. I feel strongly that the Lord called me and led me into the work of the of the eldership here, and I've had a couple years now under my belt. I take great, humble, and and try... And humility if the Lord would call me for that role. However, the the one thing that I can tell you is that there's there's a passage, and I I should remember it off my...

9:52 Off top of my head, but it says that those that work amongst you, well, they might receive a double blessing. I can't speak for my fellow elders, but I can tell you this. I feel as though I do receive a double blessing in the role. And it's this way. While you might easily expect that people would think, oh, but you have to listen to so much, you have to hear these burdens, you hear things that that you don't...

10:20 Nobody else hears. You you understand, or you you get you're told things that you can't pass along. You're told things... You have burdens to bear, and that's true. That's true.

10:31 And it helps to have many of us bearing those burdens together. And and I will I will tell you that the three gentlemen that I share that with, I have the utmost respect for. But here's the best part. While you you see those burdens, and you could imagine those, those are the easiest, I think, for people to imagine. The thing that you don't get to see is that while we may see other things or may hear about other things or made aware of other things, that gives us a chance to see them worked out.

11:08 That gives us the chance to having said, you don't know about it, but wow, watch how this whole path came along. And the Lord worked that out in that individual's heart. Look how we've been praying for these individuals for months. Maybe we didn't know why. And yet the Lord brought them to us with a question or an answer.

11:34 So I feel as though it's a blessing. I I I truly enjoy interacting with the body, and you may have many recommendations of how I could do things better. I welcome them. However, I can thank you from the bottom of my heart for those opportunities to help bear burden, however small it might be. But yet, I thank you for the opportunity that we can see it worked out because sometimes there's no other way.

12:02 There's no other way it could have happened other than the work of of god. And to him be the glory Because it wasn't me. It wasn't somebody else. It was him that worked it out. So that's a little bit about a little bit about my heart.

12:54 Okay? It was never, I should be going north and I went south. I was a little bit off here. It was never drastic, but yet I think I made choices that have given me experiences that the Lord has used. 1993, I made a choice to take a job in Indiana, and we moved from here to Indiana.

13:19 We moved from Indiana to Memphis. We moved from Memphis back to Indiana, and thank the Lord, we moved back here after that. Twelve years we were we were out there. You'll see that's about the time that Elimelech was out and about. And the Lord used that time in many ways.

13:37 We never walked away from the Lord. He was always there. He always had his hand on us. He was protecting us. But, man, I wonder.

13:48 I wonder. So as you sit here today, you may decide that, yeah, there's some things maybe if I'd have taken that road, maybe if I'd have made that choice, you might identify with Elimelech a little bit too today. So let's begin talking about Ruth. Yeah. I I I'm ready to do that, but I can't I can't go there without telling you the one thing.

14:31 The one thing that brought me back, the one thing that has changed my life probably in ways that I would have never expected. Remember I told you that the one thing that I try and do in my life at all times is control everything. And, you know, I can do most all of that. I can control my job. I try to control my wife, and she refuses.

15:06 I can control my activities. I usually have good control over my mouth. Usually. I can't control my genetics, though. See, my son has cystic fibrosis.

15:28 We didn't learn that until... Excuse me, but we didn't learn that till January 2007. If you know anything about that, that shouldn't have happened. He was, you know, they they say that they say the average age of diagnosis is eight months. Average life expectancy without treatment, two years.

15:56 Longest life expectancy without treatment, twenty years. My son was 15 years old. We learned out he has cystic fibrosis. You don't need to hear all the details about what that is, but it's a difficult thing for him to struggle with. But you know what?

16:14 Guess where he got it? From me. Okay? I can't control that. And that finally put me in a mindset and finally put me in a in a frame of mind that said, you know what?

16:34 You you think you can control everything. You think if you just work harder. You think if you just work smarter. You think if you just do something a little bit different, you can control this. I'll show you something.

16:53 You ain't never going to control this. There's no drug we can make it go away with. There's things we can do to help him and you know what? He's doing great. Don't pity my son.

17:08 Don't pity me. I'm glad he's not here today because he would be throwing me daggers with his eyes. Why are you talking about me? Well, because he affected my life. He has taught me things I would have never known.

17:31 He's still teaching me things I never could have learned. Thank God for my son. Thank God for what he's done in my life through him. Thank God that he doesn't have a personality like mine. If he had a personality like mine with the things he's affected with, he'd be crawled up in that corner shriveling and whimpering.

18:01 That's what I would be doing, but he's stronger than that. He says, you know what? No way. I'm gonna go do this. I'm gonna play volleyball.

18:08 I'm gonna do what I want to do. You're not gonna get me down. Thank you, Lord, that he gave him that personality. Thank you that he woke me up. Thank you that he gave me the opportunity to learn from that.

18:26 If you wanna hear... If you wanna read a story about a father who had a similar experience, you can turn to Mark chapter nine, but you don't have to do it now on your own time, but something you can't control. I apologize. I'm not trying to make this an emotional time. It is emotional for me.

18:49 So forgive me if I've offended you by my emotion. That's not my intention. But I'm going back to what I told you before. I'm struck most when people share their hearts, And I'm struck most by those who struggle to do it. So I'll share my heart with you today.

19:33 We're gonna jump in and out of the story as we go forward. But I've I've challenged you, since we won't get through all of it, we'll probably have to come back and take it up a little bit later. Read through the story. It's a Old Testament treasure. The Old Testament has many treasures in it.

19:52 I think we need to dig into them and unlock them. And and in spite of my suggestion to Jim Bingham a few weeks ago, and I said, you know what? Don't read so much. We're gonna read a lot today. So I guess the Lord's teaching me.

20:06 One or two books in the Bible named for a woman, Esther's the other. There's a few strong themes that I think we'd like or I'd like to point out to you in the book of Ruth. The first one is about decisions. Decisions that we make, particularly big decisions in life. About faith, and the the faith that that Ruth shows.

20:31 We can't, excuse me, get out of Ruth without talking about redemption. And then let's talk about eventually the little things. Is God really important... Or is God really interested in the little things like you or me? Certainly a foreshadowing of Christ.

20:57 I wanna give a public thank to Randy Amos, who's not here, but I I had the opportunity to hear him in West Virginia. If you've never heard of him, he's great. I know many of you know him. But he has the ability to take the Old Testament and link it up to the New Testament in ways that I've not seen done so well before. He's really does that well.

21:20 And so if you've never heard him talk about the tabernacle, it's a really interesting time. But at any rate, I hope to link Ruth to the New Testament a little bit here. So a little bit of context. You know, if we start with the Exodus. Right?

21:39 You got Moses leads the children of Israel out of the wilderness. Along that way, the law is given. They they had many practices that were taught, many things that that they learned along that travel really foreshadow what's happened in the in... To what we know today in the the New Testament and through Christ. After Moses, Joshua, his trusty sidekick, picked up where he'd left off, brought him into the promised land where Moses was prevented from coming.

22:15 Right? Because of his disobedience, he takes him into the promised land. It's a time of prosperity, and then a time of wandering away. Okay? That's the book of Judges.

22:30 Finally get to Samuel and his sons and sort of the down the downfall of that system, if you will. But essentially, the time of Judges was a time of wandering away. I'm going to read Judges chapter two, beginning in verse seven for a minute. Judges chapter two, beginning in verse seven. So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which he had done for Israel.

23:03 Now Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was 110 years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Hares in the Mountains Of Ephraim on the North Side Of Mount Gash. When all that generation had been gathered to their forefathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which he had done for Israel. So there's a time of transition here. Many who had seen these great works on the Exodus and the times after and the conquering and all that had died off and were gone now, and it was up to those that were left to go forward.

23:51 And this is what it says about that. Verse 11. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them. And they bowed down to them, and they provoked the Lord to anger.

24:13 They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. So an unfortunate time. When we transition from a leadership, and we have changes that have to, that are made just because people leave this earth. It's a time for those of you young folks to to remember. Hey.

24:45 I remember them. What do you mean? Those us young folks, me young folks, to remember those that went before us and see what the Lord has done in their time. So Judges also prior to the time of the kings where Saul and now... Then David, Solomon, and those guys come onto the scene.

25:25 The name of the man was Elimelech. The name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Melon and Chilion, Ephratites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there. Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, And she was left and her two sons. Now they, her two sons, took wives of the women of Moab.

25:55 The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other, Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years. Then both Meilan and Chilion also died. So the woman, Naomi, survived her two sons and her husband. So there's the beginning of the story.

26:14 Right? There's Elimelech. He took his family and said, you know what? We're gonna move. Now why did he do that?

26:26 Well, there was famine in the land. Right? Everybody knows what a famine is. Right? I I looked it up just to make sure I got the right definition.

26:34 But it's extreme or general scarcity of food, as in a country or a large area. So a large area there around Bethlehem is having a famine. Right? They are without food. In an agrarian society, that's usually meaning where people raise crops to live, usually brought on by lack of water.

26:54 Many cases, it doesn't rain, crops don't grow, people don't eat. It's a famine. So in and of itself, I mean, if you need to move for food, that's probably not a bad reason, right, overall. Remember, and and and I'm I'm just gonna stop for a second and say, you folks in the back, you young folks, some of you in the front, you young folks, those of you in your twenties and thirties, guess what? Decisions are made every day now for you.

27:29 Okay? And you know what? You might should be going north, and rarely are somebody tempting you to go south because that every... That's easy. Right?

27:39 We should not take drugs or I should take drugs. That's an easy one. Right? Do I do I associate myself with these friends, or do I do that activity? You got these choices to make.

27:53 But when you when you when you move off the north and you go one degree, the longer you go, the farther away if you get from the actual. The sooner you can correct your path and move forward, the better off we are. I say we. I was there. I made a choice.

28:11 I made a 100 choices that I could look back at and say, you know, it might not have been the best. Thank god that he can still use us after we make choices. So think now. Think now. I encourage you to think now.

28:27 Where am I going? What choices am I making today? So with that in mind, and me in mind, and Olimenek in mind, he moves to Moab. Okay? Moab is not the place you wanna go.

28:42 Okay? The Moabites were the ones that said, no. You can't pass through here when Moses was bringing the folks out of the Exodus. He had to go around Moab because they said, no. You can't even walk the road.

28:53 You can't even buy food from us. You can go around. Okay? So the lord didn't have a a soft place in his heart for Moab, but that's where Elimelech decides to go. Maybe it looked...

29:06 The grass looked greener over there. I don't know why, but that's where he decided to go. You could read in Deuteronomy chapter two about that detour around Moab. You could read in Deuteronomy chapter 23 about what the lord thought of a Moabite. Through 10 generations, they shall not enter the assembly of the lord, he said.

29:31 So I'm not trying to overdo this. I'm not trying to overimagine. I'm not trying to say that god was judging Elimelech. He certainly didn't reward him. Okay?

29:44 Elimelech dies. And to show you just a little more evidence about how maybe their family wasn't walking in the ways of the Lord that they'd been taught from their youth. Melon and Chilion marry wives from Moab. That was strictly not God's design, but they did. Worse yet, after ten years after ten years, they die.

30:16 Both of them die. Now you're sitting here saying, well, okay. In general, they're not following the lord. It appears that they're doing things on their own. They're trying to take it on their own back, and they're trying to say, we can solve this problem.

30:28 We don't have any food. We'll go work hard. We'll party hard. We'll do what... I don't know exactly what they did.

30:34 I don't know that that was, you know, death for them as judgment, but it's certainly a consequence. See, each one of these decisions you make, particularly these big decisions, who do I associate with, where do I work, who... Where do I live, They all have consequences. All of them. Some of them are worse than others.

31:36 So three widows are not a good fortune telling here. Well, they do what would obviously be wise, I think. Let's pick up the verse or the the the reading here in verse eight. And Naomi said to her two daughters in law, this is along the path. Naomi decides, you know what?

32:06 We're not gonna make it here. This is not working out here clearly. So I'm going back. I'm going back to Bethlehem. I don't know that she and Elimelech were always in disagreement over this.

32:21 I don't know that she, you know, wished it at... I don't know if she was on her knees and said, I gotta do this. I I don't know. We could imagine all those things, but but she makes a choice and says, you know what? I'm going back to Bethlehem.

32:34 I hear they've got food now. And you know what? A woman going back to her family at that time was probably the best way for her to be supported and not have to reserve... Resort to such drastic measures like we talked about before. So now we're on the path, and they're headed out, middle of verse eight.

32:53 And she says, go, return each to your mother's house. You do the same that I'm doing. I I, you know, I don't blame you. You should do that. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead in me.

33:03 So she appreciated how they had been treating her. The Lord grant that you may find rest each in the house of her husband. So she kissed them and lifted up, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, surely we will return to your people, to you and your people. Return, excuse me, return with you to your people.

33:29 So couple things we know here. Orpah and Ruth were not forced to remain with Naomi. There's no evidence that says they had to go. They had no other choices. They had families to return to.

33:40 They had a way, and they were young enough, it says too, that they could have found another husband to support them. Okay? And and and so they said, no. We're going with you. But Naomi makes a very logical argument back and says, wait.

33:58 Wait. Wait. You you deserve a new husband. And by the way, in case you've realized it, I don't have a husband right now. And even if I did have a husband today, I couldn't bring you another husband for you until many years from now.

34:11 You're not gonna wait that long. It only makes sense. Go back. Go back to your your mother's house. See if you can find another husband.

34:22 I think this also points out the great relationship that these women had. Now they've been through a lot. Right? The three women, think about this. They probably live together, okay, or in close proximity to one another.

34:37 Naomi lost her husband. The place for her to live was with one or both of them. Okay? So ladies, she... You had their mother-in-law living with you the whole time.

34:50 Okay? One or the other and probably both. So they had a great relationship, and you can see that theme throughout here in what they said. We wanna go with you. But finally, the one of them, Orpa, gets to the point where she says, you know what?

35:31 Return after your sister-in-law. So Orpah turns back. She couldn't overcome the logic or the unknown that was ahead of her. Maybe she was... Had been hanging on Ruth's faith.

35:40 Ruth was the one saying, we're gonna go. We're gonna go. And Lorprin said, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

35:43 I don't know. But all of a sudden, she says, you know what? You're right. I can't do that. I gotta go.

35:49 I'm going back. And I don't think we should hold that against her. It's a difficult position. But we should lift up Ruth in the decision that she made and to see how she made it and to see what's in her heart. Okay?

36:03 Listen to this as we continue on in verse 16, it is here. Ruth says, entreat me not to leave you or turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried.

36:28 The Lord do so to me, and more also if anything but death parts you and me. So it's really interesting there. There's probably some literary term for how that's all laid out, but there's five points in there, and and there's two verses each one, and and they they they sort of compile and back each other up. But look at what she's saying. She says, wherever you go, I'm going with you.

36:52 Guaranteed. Whoever you live with, I'm living with you. Wherever you die, I'll be dying there as well. Okay? Let me suffer consequences, huge ones, if anything but death separates me and you.

37:11 Ruth was committed to Naomi. She was the person of Naomi. She was committed to the people of Naomi. She committed herself to the god of Naomi. And in spite of any social, economic, or other circumstances, she decided to head the direction that Naomi was going.

37:33 So now we might wanna fault Naomi, and we might wanna hear Naomi's story is, why did you follow Elimelech over there? Well, you know, I don't know. Maybe she was being obedient, whatever. But Naomi didn't something else too. Naomi had clearly taught those women something.

37:54 She had clearly reflected and told the stories, I believe, of her youth and where she had lived, and and and that's a good place. And now when she's going back to the point where Ruth says, I don't... There's nothing gonna keep me from what you've told me. I've learned. I've understood.

38:14 I understand what you're telling me. I'm going back. I think that's commendable. And when you compare the choices of Elimelech, me, okay, with the choices of Ruth, who I hope to be someday, right, We can see that Limelek made his decisions from an economic standpoint. It was based on the conditions he was facing at the time.

38:44 Right? Oh, I'm troubled. Therefore, I'm gonna go do something about it. As opposed to the many laws and rules and provisions that the Lord had laid out in their society to provide for people in that situation. And you could read through them.

39:02 We'll we'll talk about them later, but... Not later today, but later. And while we can't say, and I wouldn't say that he was judged, certainly can say he was not rewarded. He'd taken things into his own hands. But compare that to Naomi.

39:33 Okay? It was commitment based. I don't know what's gonna happen. Matter of fact, I know what's happening, and I'm not happy with it. I know what has happened, and that's been awful.

39:46 But you know what? I see something here. And come what may, no matter what happens, this is what I base my decision on. I'm gonna do the right thing. I'm gonna do what I think the Lord would have me to do.

40:01 If you read through the rest of the book of Ruth, I think you can come to the conclusion that she was rewarded in that. Okay? She had God in mind when she made a decision. So, oh, if we're gonna make a decision, let's do that. Let's have God in mind.

40:21 Give him a place beside you as you walk forward and consider and make choices in life. I know we all have choices to make. I'm 50 years young next year, and I hope I make the right choice that leads me down a path that brings me closer to the Lord or glorifies him more. But if you're 25 years young or 19 years young or 70 years young, let's put God beside us to make those choices. So let's make it a little bit practical now.

40:59 Give you... Let me give you just a little bit of practical advice. So I I have this snowy white beard as my son likes to call it. So if you're older than me or you also got snow, you don't have to listen. But those young folks, wanna I give you some practical advice.

41:14 If I have any advice, and I think it's proven out in here, Ruth, in the book of Ruth, this first chapter that we've just considered, never run away. Never run away from a problem. It's tough. It's no good. I don't like it.

41:33 It it doesn't look like it's working around. I'm running away. Don't do that. Never run away from a problem. It might be a test.

41:45 It might be a judgment. It might be a correction. I don't know what it is, but don't run away from it. You're there for a reason. Always, always, every time, run towards something.

42:06 There's a difference. This is bad. I'm getting out of here. That's where the Lord's calling me. That's where I'm going.

42:13 Run. Run. Run. Run towards something. Never run away.

42:20 Always run towards something. Where is the Lord calling me? Where is an opportunity for me to serve him with the gift that I have, with what he's showing me up to this point in the trials I've been through, the troubles I've had, the difficulties I've faced, the the problems that have been here, and I can do that, that's the way to go. Do you see Ruth running towards something? That's where I wanna be.

43:01 Sometimes, it's much easier and maybe this is just my ability, but it's much easier to see that decision and how good it was when we're looking at it this way. In reverse. Okay? Some of you have been afflicted with this advice already, so don't don't worry about it. I'm saying it again.

43:26 Sometimes it's easier if when I go to make a big decision, I go to make a big change in my life, I go to do something that I think I'm running towards, Write it down. Write it down today. Why did I do that? I'm not sure. Nobody knows.

43:42 There's consequences each way we go. Write it down. It's much easier to understand what Olimalek did when we see his story. Right? And we can read about it.

43:54 It's much easier to see what you did when you turn around and look back at that letter I wrote to myself a year ago. Oh, that's why I did that. Oh, that was a mistake. Or that's why I did that. You know what?

44:09 That was a good reason. I'm gonna stick with it. So when you're running towards something, leave a marker. Leave a marker there that says, this is why I made this this spot. It's like going down a path and putting the breadcrumbs down.

44:25 Going down a path, leaving a mark on the tree saying, I know I made a decision here at this time right now to do this. And I think we'll serve you well going forward. Let's pray. Father, your ways are mysterious and they're beyond what we can imagine. But we thank you, Lord, for that.

44:53 We thank you that you're a big God. A God that is bigger than we are. Pray, Lord, that we might realize that, that we might choose to to follow you not only to give you... To put our eternity in your hands, but, Lord, we pray that we might put tomorrow in your hands. We might put this afternoon in your hands.

45:27 Lord, we pray as we go forward that your word will be solid here. There's anything that I've said that is not right, you'll erase it from people's minds. If there's anything that you've said that is right through me, Lord, we pray that you'll magnify it beyond what I could do. We thank you for this time. We pray in your son's precious name.

45:53 Amen.