by Laura Story
1. Read Genesis 22:3–14. What does the fact that Abraham wanted to worship God tell us about what he had learned about trusting God?
2. Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice his son? What do you think Abraham learned about God through this situation?
3. What are some things that God has called you to sacrifice to follow him? What can you learn from this story about putting your complete faith in him?
Day Five: Complete Surrender
As spectacular and as long awaited as his only son was, Abraham knew that God was greater. Abraham’s obedience brought about a renewal of the covenant that God had made with him:
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me” (Genesis 22:15–18).
Abraham’s story shows us that worship isn’t something that happens in a church service. It’s not singing songs or a genre we hear on Christian radio. Worship is about surrender. Surrendering to God’s call to follow him where he leads. Surrendering to God’s will when it doesn’t match our own, or when we’re too impatient to wait for him. Surrendering those things in our lives that we hold most important. And surrendering our personal story to live out our part in God’s greater story. Worship is surrendering everything for the object of our worship.
Abraham’s faithless encounter with Hagar and the lies he told about his wife involved him hanging on to something he shouldn’t have. But his most faith-filled moments—leaving his father’s home and his willingness to sacrifice Isaac—involved him letting something go.
What is your Isaac? What have you had to let go? Maybe it was something tangible like your dream car or that house in the perfect subdivision. Maybe you longed to have children and couldn’t, or you envisioned staying home with your children but ended up having to work. Maybe you gave up your career for someone else. Perhaps someone in your life has disappointed you and you fear you will never again have the happy family you desired. Maybe it’s your opinion of yourself; you’re so afraid of failure that you fail to live.
For all of us who hold on to things, people, or dreams too tightly, Abraham’s story isn’t a great piece of fiction to entertain us—it is truth. We are all like Abraham. He was a real man who lived, and sinned, and worshiped, and died, just like all the rest of us on our two-steps-forward, one-step-backward crooked walks toward intimacy with God. Abraham’s story is about a real man’s real encounter with a real God. And it’s an encounter that Scripture invites all of us to have. No, Abraham wasn’t perfect. But he learned to trust God, and as a result God used him to bless a nation and all of humankind.
He will do the same with us when we completely surrender our lives to him.
1. Read Hebrews 11:8–12. What acts of faith did Abraham and Sarah exhibit?
2. What does the writer of Hebrews mean when he states that Abraham “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (verse 10)? What does this tell us about what Abraham had learned about God during his life?
3. What is your “Isaac”? What is a dream or longing you have had to let go and surrender to God? How have you seen God work through your surrender?
SESSION THREE
When God Doesn’t Fix It
It’s hard to understand why sometimes Jesus heals and sometimes he doesn’t. When it feels as though he’s turned his back and walked the other way, it’s hard not to be disappointed. Maybe even angry. But while we’re focused on the unhealed sickness, hurt, and pain in our lives, God is focused on a bigger picture. . . . More than healing us physically, God wants our relationship with him to be healthy.
LAURA STORY
Introduction
“How are you doing?”
“Great!” “Fantastic!” “I’m too blessed to be depressed . . .”
Too many Christians are quick to give a flippant and often dishonest answer to this question. We feel that being “positive” shows the world we are walking in the joy of the Lord. We act like having faith in Jesus guarantees a painless existence.
But when we act as if everything is fine and cover up our struggles, we remove ourselves from honest conversations in the human family and slam the door shut on countless opportunities to talk about the presence and power of Jesus.
A woman named Karen was seeking to naturally share the love and message of Jesus with Sue, the woman who cuts her hair. Sue was kind but resistant to spiritual conversations. Any time Karen brought up church, faith, Jesus, the Bible, or anything that seemed religious, her friend quickly shut down the conversation. On a couple of occasions Karen had offered to give Sue a Bible, but Sue flatly refused to even accept this gift.
One day, Karen was getting ready to see Sue for a haircut but was considering canceling her appointment. She was in a time of deep personal turmoil and mourning, because that day doctors had called her with bad news about her daughter. Tests showed that her illness was back, worse than ever, which meant upcoming months of surgeries, pain, and uncertainty.
Karen made a decision. She would get her haircut, but she would act like everything was great. She wanted Sue to see her as a strong and faith-filled Christian witness.
When Karen sat in the salon chair, she was committed to having a joyful attitude no matter how she really felt. Sue looked at Karen in the mirror and tenderly asked this simple question: “How are you doing?” Uninvited tears flooded Karen’s eyes and poured down her face. She forgot all about the facade she had prepared. Instead, Karen honestly expressed the raw pain and struggle she had walked through for more than a decade with her daughter. Sue listened with kindness and compassion.
Without any thought to what she was saying, Karen talked about her pain, sorrow, struggles, and also the presence of Jesus on her journey. Karen poured out stories of how people in her church had prayed daily for her family, how they had provided meals after surgeries, and how they had been family to her family. She talked about how God had used the comforting words of the Bible to minister to her again and again. Through her tears, Karen told Sue about the presence of Jesus, the hope of heaven, and the God-given strength she experienced, even when her heart ached and her tears flowed.
When her haircut was finished and her tears were all emptied out on the salon floor, Karen took a deep breath and thanked Sue for listening. Sue looked at Karen and said, “I think I would really like that Bible you offered me.” That day, that moment of honesty, opened the door for a whole new relationship and level of spiritual conversation between Karen and Sue. The turning point was honest and unfiltered sharing of pain, loss, and suffering.
I grow more and more convinced that the greatest ministry any of us has to offer is to share our stories. It’s through our imperfect lives, even our most broken chapters, that God’s faithfulness is truly showcased.
Talk About It
To get things started for this third session, discuss one of the following questions:
• Christians often feel compelled to hide the hurts, fears, and life challenges they face. Tell about a time when you dared to be honest and transparent about a personal pain or struggle you were facing. How did the people you opened up to respond to your truthful testimony?
or
• If we share our pains and challenges honestly with other followers of Jesus, how can this encourage and help them on their own journey of faith? If we share these same stories with non-believers, how can this help them take a step toward faith in Jesus?
Video Teaching Notes
&
nbsp; As you watch the video teaching segment for session three, use the following outline to record anything that stands out to you.
Our stories of imperfect lives and honest struggles can showcase God’s faithfulness
When Jesus did not fix it
• Jesus displays his power and healing
• Jesus goes to a solitary place to pray
• The crowds seek Jesus and want him to come back and continue healing
• Jesus moves on to the next town and leaves many people unhealed
• Jesus is clear about what his main ministry was and what it was not
God sent Jesus to this earth not to make sick people healthy; God sent Jesus to literally raise dead people to life!
What has Jesus not fixed in your life?
How do we respond when God does not fix it?
The power of trust
What do we do when God doesn’t fix it? We trust him. We trust that he is still in control, that he still is good, and that he still sees us and is near to us.
Bible Study and Video Discussion
Take a few minutes with your group members to discuss what you just watched and explore these concepts in Scripture.
1. Tell about a time God closed a door or slowed you down. How did this experience make room for you to connect with God or go deeper in your faith?
2. How has God answered prayers differently than you have asked or expected? How has God’s timing been different than what you would have liked?
3. How have these experiences stretched or grown your faith?
4. Read Mark 1:21–39. Think about the day and night of ministry that Jesus experienced. What do you learn about Jesus as you watch him walk through this day?
5. How did the people of the region respond to Jesus’ compassion and miraculous power? How do you think you would have responded had you been there witnessing Jesus’ power to break spiritual bondage, heal fragmented bodies, and declare heavenly truth?
6. Imagine you had been part of the growing mass of people who gathered the next morning to ask Jesus to heal them. Imagine you had come to request healing in your own life or for a person you loved. What might have gone through your mind when you heard that Jesus was not coming back?
Is it possible that Jesus’ top priority that day wasn’t the physical healing of every lame and sick person in that town, but that his demonstration of power was only to reveal his greater purpose of spiritual healing to all of humanity?
7. In the video, Laura notes that times of physical healing might be designed to get people’s attention so they can experience the spiritual healing that only Jesus can give. How do you respond to this line of thinking?
8. Jesus has power to bring physical healing. He has also laid down his life to cleanse us of sin and invite us into a relationship with the Father that will last for all eternity. When it comes right down to it, why is spiritual healing and faith in Jesus far more important and valuable than physical healing? With this in mind, how should this impact the way we pray and what we desire for ourselves and for others?
9. Jesus wants us to experience an abundant life. Sometimes this includes physical healing, but at other times it does not. What would you say to a Christian who declares, “If I can’t be healed of a physical infirmity, then I can’t experience an abundant life”?
As people of faith, we place our trust not in God’s willingness to change our circumstances. We place our trust in God himself.
10. In the video, Laura talks about how thankful she and her family are for Martin’s life. Although he still lives with disabilities, vision loss, short-term memory issues, and other challenges, she is deeply grateful and has a sense of God’s presence and blessing. How is it possible to experience authentic joy and thankfulness in the midst of difficult circumstances? When was a time you encountered God in a deep way and felt profound thankfulness even in the middle of a life storm?
11. What are signs and indicators we are trusting in God even when we are facing pain and struggles and realize that God has decided not to fix our situation the way we want?
12. What are signs and indicators we are not trusting God and holding on to him during the times we face loss and struggles?
13. Tell your group members about a situation you are facing right now where you are struggling to trust God because he is not fixing the situation the way you had hoped. How can your group members pray for you and encourage you as you seek to grow in trust as you walk through this challenge?
God wants to restore our relationship with him more than anything else.
Closing Prayer
Use the prompts below to guide your group in a time of prayer together:
• Thank God for the times he has slowed you down or changed your course in a way that has ended up drawing you closer to him.
• Give God praise for times he has answered a prayer in a way that was absolutely right but very different from what you wanted at the time.
• Tell God that you are grateful for the times he heals physically, but celebrate the reality that spiritual healing is even more important.
• Pray for humility to accept God’s sovereign and wise answers to your prayers, even when they don’t make sense to you.
• Express joy to God for being with you at all times, even in the valley of pain and loss.
Between-Sessions
PERSONAL STUDY
Reflect on the content covered in this third session by exploring the following material from the Bible and from When God Doesn’t Fix It.
Day One: A Shocking Healing
In the video this week, Laura discusses a troubling passage found in the Gospels in which it appeared that Jesus had the opportunity to heal people but instead turned his back on them and left town. It happened shortly after Jesus started his ministry and had chosen his disciples. He was in Capernaum, Simon and Andrew’s hometown, and had just finished teaching in the synagogue. Luke writes:
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them (4:38–39).
At that time, many people believed that a fever was an illness rather than just a symptom of another disease. They thought it was God’s punishment for those who didn’t obey his covenant. For this reason, only God could cure a fever. So the fact that Jesus healed her, and healed her so immediately, must have been astonishing. It suggested Jesus’ divinity.
But let’s not overlook how Jesus healed her. Simon’s mother-in-law would have been considered a lowly old woman by this culture that didn’t value women. Although Jesus could have healed her from a distance with his words, he instead chose to enter into her personal space and touch her. Using his bare hands, he helped her out of bed. In that small act, he demonstrated that God’s love and compassion isn’t reserved for the deserving, the blameless, or those with the highest social standing. Jesus cared for the least of these.
The miracle was quiet and private and took place inside of Simon’s home. Yet the immediacy and completeness of the healing must have shaken the sails and rocked the boats of these former fishermen. They had never seen anything like it! The place had to be buzzing, and everyone who witnessed it must have been talking about it. Word quickly spread among the local community, and soon they wanted to experience it for themselves.
Luke goes on to tell us that at sunset, the people brought to Jesus those who had various diseases and who were demon-possessed. Imagine the scene. Just as the disciples are ready to retire for the night, a neighbor comes to the door and says they’ve heard how Jesus cured Simon’s mother-in-law. Could Jesus heal them or one of their loved ones? Then a second neighbor, followed by a third, appear
s and asks for the same. Jesus obliges, healing each one. News of Jesus’ healing powers spreads throughout the community, and soon the whole town is gathered on Simon’s lawn.
1. Read Matthew 25:31–44. What does Jesus say in this parable about serving the “least of these” in society? Who are we serving when we serve these people?
2. Read Luke 4:31–41. How did Jesus demonstrate this principle of serving “the least of these” in this situation?
3. What cultural norms of the time was Jesus breaking by showing compassion to the sick and needy in Capernaum?
Day Two: A Glimmer of Hope
In Mark’s Gospel, we read that Jesus healed “many” and drove out “many” demons (see 1:34). Luke tells us that “laying his hands on each one, he healed them” (4:40). Jesus didn’t heal some and not others; rather, he healed a huge number of people with a variety of ailments.
Maybe like Simon’s mother-in-law, some were there because of a fever. Others may have been born blind or with diseases. Perhaps they had wounds that needed healing. In that line could have been a man with headaches, a woman with an ongoing stomachache, or a baby with an ear infection. Jesus healed them all. A blind man, a deaf teenager, and an old woman with a bent back were now able to see, hear, and sit up straight.
Imagine what that must have been like. Formerly sick children were now running and playing as healthy children. Fathers who couldn’t work and mothers who couldn’t nurse were now able to provide for their children. Children with once twisted feet were now jumping for joy. Picture the euphoria these once ailing townspeople and their families must have felt as Jesus healed each of them. Grandparents weeping with joy. Parents hugging. Children yelling at play. Babies kicking and giggling. Sickness gone. Health restored. Jesus had fixed it all.