Finding God's Presence in Life's Worst Moments

Life has a way of sorting itself into before and after. In this episode, discover what Ruth's story reveals about God's faithfulness in the territory you didn't choose, and why the after isn't as empty as it looks.Chris Singleton was 18 years old and finishing his freshman year at Charleston Southern University when he got the call on June 17, 2015. His mother Sharonda Coleman-Singleton had been at a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. A gunman had opened fire. Nine people were dead. His mother was one of them.Two days later he stood in front of news cameras outside that church and said 5 words that stopped the country: love is stronger than hate.Most of us have a day like that. Before it and after it, life looked different. The world on the other side felt like unfamiliar territory, because it was. You were somewhere you hadn't planned to be.Over the years in pastoral ministry I've sat with people whose lives were divided by a moment like that. A phone call or a diagnosis. A conversation that ended something. Some drew closer to God through it. Others pulled away. The ones who drew closer weren't spared the grief. They just found something in the grief that the others hadn't found yet.Ruth crossed into unfamiliar territory too. She had lost her husband and left her homeland to follow her mother-in-law Naomi to a country she'd never lived in. Her words to Naomi in Ruth 1:16-17 are some of the most committed in all of Scripture: wherever you go, I will go. Your God will be my God.What Ruth found when she arrived was that God's faithfulness had preceded her. The provision was already in place, in a field she'd never walked before, before she knew she would need it. That's the pattern this episode returns to: the after isn't empty. God was already there.In the days after his mother's murder, Chris Singleton said the forgiveness he extended came from somewhere outside himself. He said it had to be God, because nothing in his own resources could have produced it on the worst day of his life. He went on to play minor league baseball for the Chicago Cubs, then left baseball entirely to speak and write. His message has never changed: love is stronger than hate. It came to him in the after. God was already in that territory before Chris arrived.Through Chris's story and Ruth 1:16-17, this episode makes the case that the day that divides your life is not the end of God's work in it. It may be where that work becomes most visible.BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:What Ruth's crossing into Moab reveals about God's faithfulness in the territory you didn't plan to enterWhy some people draw closer to God through a dividing-line moment and others pull away, and what makes the differenceOne question you can bring to God today about the after you're living inThe after isn't empty. God was there before you arrived.Share This Episode:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/248Need Prayer? Leave me a voicemail:https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/voicemailWant to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/Rate and Reviewhttps://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Connect with BartFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylivesWebsite: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.comFeeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here.Mentioned in this episode:Join Our Private Facebook CommunityIf you're looking for a place to connect with other Daily Devotions listeners and pray for each other, I'd love for you to join our private Facebook community group. Come find us at https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/group