Purpose In Suffering - pgs 221-223
Realize
1. List several different kinds of suffering that you or others you know have had to endure (e.g., financial disaster).
2. Give two or three illustrations of the natural human instinct to escape from suffering (e.g., divorce).
3. Why is suffering an inescapable fact of the human condition? Will we ever be totally free from suffering and pain while we live in this world? Why not?
Reflect
4. What do the following verses in the book of 1 Peter teach us about the purposes of God in suffering and how we should respond to suffering?
* 1:7
* 2:21-23
* 3:9
* 3:14-17
* 4:1-2
* 4:12-16, 19
* 5:8-10
5. Give an illustration of the "redemptive, sanctifying fruit" that suffering has produced in your life.
Respond
6. How could a painful situation you are facing at this time be for you "a pathway to sanctification and a doorway into greater intimacy with God"?
Prayer of the Day
Lord, at times when I am hurting, my natural instinct is to cry out for relief. But I don't want to forfeit the blessings that You can bring to me and to others through my suffering. Thank You that You use suffering to make us more mature, more like Your Son, who suffered for us. Help me to embrace the pain and to allow You to fulfill all Your purposes in and through my life. Amen.
1 comment:
I know that the reading today was on suffering but I wanted to share what happened today. Today was the meeting of the difficult people I've mentioned for the last few days. The Lord gave me a verse last night- it was Deuteronomy 1:30- The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. This meant alot to me. I had been trying to do what the book said and to trust God in my circumstances and not worry and then He gave me the verse. I claimed it as "my" verse for today and even though the people still weren't happy when they left the meeting- I was at peace. After all- God had already been in the meeting before I ever got there and worked everything out for me in such a way that I would learn more about God.
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