LGC - Under Pressure Part 4

Under Pressure (Part 4)

Rhordan Wicks

INTRODUCTION

In Part 1 of the series, we learned that God’s purpose for life’s pressures is to make us wise.
In Part 2 of the series, we see that trials are God’s trails into tenacity and trust.
In Part 3 of the series, we see that external tests are interrelated with internal temptations.

In Part 4, we learn that difficulties can cause us to doubt God’s goodness. Yet if we do not believe in God’s goodness, our request for wisdom may not be answered. Let us explore what the Bible says about God’s goodness.

DISCUSSION

In the book of James, God promises to give wisdom to anyone who asks for wisdom with one exception.

a. Read James 1:6-7. Describe in your own words what kind of person James says will be denied wisdom.

Reference (Zondervan Life Application Study Bible): “A mind that wavers is not completely convinced that God’s way is best. It treats God’s Word like any human advice, and it retains the option to disobey.”

b. Has there been a time when you have felt a prompting from God to do something, but you were not entirely convinced?

c. How did you deal with your doubts?
Read James 1:16-18.

a. “Do not be deceived…” (verse 16) literally means, “stop being deceived.”

When you go through trials, you are especially vulnerable to deception. What are some ways that Satan can deceive us when we go through trials? How can we be more alert to these ploys?

b. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” (verse 17). It is not static but continuous in the sense that God is generous with His gifts, and that his gifts are continuously ‘perfecting’ us. In verse 18, we also learnt that as the first fruits of creation, every good we have in us is a reflection of God’s goodness planted in us.

(i) What does the Bible say about God’s goodness? Pick out one verse each. (Psalm 34:8, Psalm 52:1, Psalm 119:68, Psalm 145:9, Genesis 1:30, Joel 2:13, Romans 5:8)

(ii) We need to define the “good and perfect gift” from God’s eternal, all-wise perspective and plan, not from our own shortsighted, temporal point of view. Trials are one of God’s perfect gifts because when we persevere in them, He uses them to produce spiritual maturity in us.

How can you learn to see God’s goodness and the good in trials?

c. What was your most recent experience where you tasted and saw for yourself that God is good?

(We often think of gifts in material terms, but what about gifts in the form of people, experiences, by revelation, spiritual gifts or fruit of the spirit?)

WHAT WILL YOU DO

Instead of focusing on the gift, refocus on worshipping the giver of all good things – God.

Worship songs about the goodness of God:

MEMORY VERSE

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” – James 1:17