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Lesson OneSuffering Comes With The Freedom To Choose5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoSuffering Reveals What Is In Our Hearts5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeSuffering Takes Us To The Edge Of Eternity5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourGod Can Turn Suffering Around For Our Good5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FivePain Can Warn Us Of Danger5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixIn Times Of Crisis We Find One Another5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenSuffering Gives Opportunity To Trust God5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightPain Loosens Our Grip On This Life5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineGod Suffers With Us In Our Suffering5 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenGod's Comfort Is Greater Than Our Suffering5 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 1
Discussion Questions
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Douglas Geivett said that people sometimes respond to suffering by becoming bitter against God or by rejecting Him. Can you identify some Bible characters who displayed those responses?
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During the exodus-the Israelites were not only bitter, but rejected and yelled out to God during their sufferings. Cain was also another biblical character that showed bitterness.
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Many times when Moses was delivering the Israelites from Egypt, the people became bitter against God.
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The Israelites and Saul are two prime examples that pop to mind immediately.
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Saul was a person who became bitter towards God. He stopped listening to him or seeking him so God brought fourth David to replace Saul. Cain became Bitter towards God also.
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My first thought was the Israelites when they were suffering throughout the Exodus.
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Paul Brand spoke of patients “taking off the mask” in private. Why do you think it is important for God to unmask our hearts—even if suffering is required to accomplish it?
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We need to confront the truth of what’s in our hearts so God can refine us and remove the ugly, sinful parts of what’s there so we can continue in sanctification to be more and more like Christ. I think this will allow us to be better witnesses for Jesus.
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I would say that God already knows what is underneath our masked hearts. He knows everything!
The unmasking of our hearts is more so for an inward reflection, as God already knows what is on our hearts and can see right through any “mask.” Removing the mask might make us vulnerable to the scars and pains that we have tried to forget or to move past. We have to ask God to create a new and clean heart for us. -
Without seeing the real us, there is no room for improvement or for a better us. Sometimes to heal a wound, you have to peel off, or disinfect the dirty scab. That is the reason for unmask.
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As long as we wear our mask, we tend to fool even ourselves. We need to take a clear and honest look at our heart if we are to make improvements and to grow in our faith. When we deny our personal shortcomings, we stand in the Lord’s way of making us more like Him.
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It is important for God to unmask our hearts so that we can grow closer to him. We often are so good at putting on out masks that we don’t see or come to terms with our heart. God wanting us to be closer to him reveals to us the areas in which we are keeping from him.
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Think about the amount of pressure required to transform coal into a diamond. What would be the human counterpoint of that necessity for pressure? How can pressure affect us?
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Friction and disputes with other Christians can apply pressure and might cause babes in Christ to become bitter or question why God allows that conflict to happen. When I was a new believer in Christ, I was under the false impression that others wouldn’t do things that would harm me, especially my own husband, who is also a Christian. In hindsight, I understand that it was necessary for me to experience what I did to be trained by it to “produce a harvest of righteousness and peace.” God didn’t want me to have a false belief that bad things wouldn’t happen to me. Jesus said we would have tribulation in this world, but He had overcome the world. I did not enjoy the hardship but it made me stronger in the Lord and I’m better off on the other side of it. Even years later, I still don’t understand why certain things continue to happen but I’m still learning I need to trust God and not man.
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We need to be pushed so that we can rely on our community, rely on our faith, and most importantly in a way be forced to know/develop our relationship with God. There are many sources of that pressure we as humans might feel- the pressure to do well in school, the pressure to obtain a specific degree or educational status, the pressure of a cancer diagnosis. Our earthly life is full of times of “refinement” and growth.
Pressure again forces us to rely on others for help, comfort, and support. Most importantly pressure can cause individuals to fall to the feet of Jesus on the cross and to ask for His love, comfort and forgiveness in where we have fallen short. -
At times we need the 100 percent pressure to push us to move to God’s direction. We are stubborn until there is no way out. When there is no way out, we’ll remember that we need help, and we cannot do things in our own strength; then, we look up to God.
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Pressures to refine the human heart come from life stressors. Maybe it is the loss of a loved one or of a job. Maybe it is the failure of a cherished relationship. Maybe it is a major health struggle, whether personal or in someone we love dearly. It can be any number of things. But when the rug is yanked out from under our feet and all we have left to stand on is our faith, we see more clearly how weak or strong our faith really is. When we commit to draw closer to God and to allow Him to help us through these storms and battles, our faith strengthens and grows, and our personal diamond shines brighter.
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The amount of pressure one needs depends on the person. Some people need a great deal of pressure to be made into the faithful person that God wants. Others need less pressure as their hearts are striving to be what God wants. Pressure will either make us stronger or break us. We will either turn tomGod or walk away. It reveals to us the state our hearts are in.
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Well said!
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