Sovereign Over Suffering

THEME: All of us have things in our lives that we wish were different and wish we could change but we can’t. Rather than grumbling and complaining about our “lot in life” or wallowing in self-pity and despair or responding in resentment or disappointment, we should consider the reasons God sovereignly ordained our imperfections and afflictions and how He is using them to perfect us and make us who He wants us to be.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” These questions are designed to help you apply today’s message to your life. We encourage you to thoughtfully answer these questions and discuss your answers with others. For more information about joining a Grow Group that uses these questions as the basis for weekly discussion, prayer, and accountability, please call the church office at (936) 582-1977.

1. If you could change one thing about your life what would it be? Why would you change it?

2. What are some of the lessons God has taught you as a result of the problems, difficulties, ailments, limitations, adversities, and/or frustrations you have faced or are facing in your life?

3. Are you truly enjoying life or simply enduring life? Are you are seeking meaning and satisfaction in the things of this world or in God? Are you empty and unhappy or happy and fulfilled?

4. Have you ever gotten so perplexed, frustrated, or disappointed with life that you wondered if life was even worth living? How did you overcome your cynicism and skepticism and regain perspective to go on living?

5. Read Job 2:10, Isaiah 45:6-7, and Lamentations 3:37-38. What do these verses teach about God’s sovereignty over everything that happens to you? How should you respond when things go good and when things go bad; when you are happy and when you are sad?

6. What were you most encouraged or challenged by in today’s sermon? How do you need to change as a result? How and when will you change?

7. Thank God for His sovereignty and that even though your life will never be perfect, you can live with the confidence that His plan for your life is perfect and He is using the imperfections in your life to perfect you and make you more like Him. Ask Him to help you thank Him for the things you enjoy about your life and trust Him for the things you wish you could change but can’t. Pray that the broken, crooked things in this world would remind you that this world is not your home and that your ultimate happiness and satisfaction must come from your relationship with Jesus.

“Why fret over our lack of control over the timing of events, our failure to eradicate injustice, and our inability to avoid death? God has better things for us to do than to spend our time fretting over things that we cannot control....We are not to pour more effort into understanding our frustrating and uncontrollable circumstances. Nor ought we to spend our time comparing our lot in life with another’s. We ought not indulge in retaliation, resentment, bitterness, or disappear into a fantasy world. Reject these reactions to life’s difficult circumstances and intrinsic injustices. Abandon self-pity and despair….Thank God that He uses such circumstances to humble you, to make you more dependent upon Him, and to be thankful for what He has given you to enjoy.” William D. Barrick, Ecclesiastes: The Philippians of the Old Testament, 70