“When Nothing Becomes Everything: Stories of Faithful Hearts”

I’d like to share that my recent 4-week journey visited two special women. First, my mum has been in an aged care centre for about a year and five months now. While her eyesight continues to weaken, her health has been more stable than when she was living on her own, and her skin still has that lovely glow. Seeing her doing well was a real relief, and I’m just so grateful to all the carers looking after her.

The second woman is my mother-in-law, who had a nasty fall while gardening a year ago. She fell backwards and had her hip permanently displaced – the doctors couldn’t even operate. Despite the doctors reckoning she wouldn’t have long; she’s been living each day as a miracle. What these two beautiful women shares is that, while their memories might be a bit scratchy at times, they’re still dead set on keeping up their daily routine of worship, listen hymns and sing, and praying to God.

These faithful women remind me of two other remarkable women in today’s text the book of Ruth and the Gospel of Mark. Though they’re from different times and situations altogether, their stories show us how God’s amazing grace works through them. We’ll have a look at the stories of Ruth, the foreign woman from the Book of Ruth, and the poor widow at the temple from Mark’s Gospel. Through these stories, we’ll see how God still works in our lives today.

Last week, Barry kindly talked the background of Ruth… Shall we review it? Sometimes it’s hard to remember details from last Sunday, let alone what happened 5 minutes ago! The Book of Ruth tells the story of Naomi, who left Bethlehem with her husband Elimelech and two sons during a famine when Israel had turned away from God. They immigrated to Moab, where she lost her husband and sons, and returned to her homeland.

When Naomi lost her husband and urged her daughters-in-law to return to their parents’ homes, Ruth, unlike her sister-in-law, chose to stay with her mother-in-law. Though Ruth could have easily started a new life after losing her husband, she didn’t turn her back on her elderly and powerless mother-in-law. Instead, she followed Naomi to her late husband’s homeland – a place she had never been and knew nothing about. What a lovely-hearted daughter-in-law.

In Ruth Chapter 1, Ruth says,“Where you go, I will go, where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die.” Ruth had nothing but a good heart full of love and loyalty for her mother-in-law, and an unwavering commitment to stay with her until death. Ruth’s dedication was like a confession of faith in God.

While Naomi and Ruth, who had lost everything, their journey mirrors many biblical patterns of faith. Like Abraham who left his father’s household, Ruth too left her parents and homeland as a Moabite woman. Naomi herself had once been an immigrant in Moab. Their story follows the faithful pattern seen throughout Scripture – leaving one’s homeland in search of God’s promise.

When these two widows returned to Bethlehem, they appeared to have nothing – no status, no security, just their hope and each other. Yet in those barley fields where Ruth gleaned, God’s providence was already at work. There she met Boaz, a man of wealth and noble character. Through this encounter, God transformed their story of loss into one of remarkable blessing – Ruth became the wife of Boaz, Naomi held her grandson Obed, and a family line was established that would lead to King David.

In our own lives, as we face new beginnings, our mindset often shapes our journey’s outcome. Ruth and Naomi’s story teaches us that while not everything in life unfolds as we wish, our approach matters deeply before God. Just as they chose faithfulness over fear, service over self-preservation, we too can trust in God’s providence. Their story remains an eternal testament that God honours those who choose to walk in faithful obedience, even on uncertain paths.

Now, let us look at the story of the widow’s offering in Mark. Jesus sat across from the temple treasury and watched people putting in their money. Several rich people put in large amounts. Then, a poor widow came and carefully dropped in two small coins. These coins were worth almost nothing, but to the widow, they were everything she had. If her husband had left her enough, if she had grown sons, or if she had remarried, the widow might not have been so poor. But she had no family, no property, and no support.

In her poverty, those two small coins were little but they were everything she had. Seeing this small offering, Jesus told his disciples, “This poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Reflecting on these stories – from Ruth’s faithful journey, the widow’s precious coins to our own walks of faith – we see a profound truth: God’s grace often flows most powerfully through what the world considers weak or insignificant. In God’s economy, value isn’t measured by what we have, but by what we’re willing to give. It’s not about our strength, but our faithfulness. It’s not about our circumstances, but our trust in His providence.

When Ruth stepped onto the road to Bethlehem, she carried nothing but her commitment. When the widow dropped her coins, she offered everything. These aren’t stories of loss or limitation – they’re testimonies of how God transforms our ‘nothing’ into His ‘everything.’

God’s greatest works often begin with empty hands and willing hearts. Whether you’re facing change like Ruth, experiencing loss like Naomi, or feeling insufficient like the widow, know that your faithfulness matters profoundly to God.

For in His kingdom, the metrics of success are different. A daughter-in-law’s loyalty becomes a link in the Messiah’s lineage. Two small coins become an eternal testimony of true giving. And our daily acts of faith, however small they may seem, become part of God’s magnificent story of redemption.

This is our inheritance and our calling – not to measure our worth by what we possess but by our faithfulness to the God who possesses us. For when we offer our ‘nothing’ to God, He transforms it into His ‘everything’.