Learning On The Way
How has the Lord delivered you in the past? Did it bring you joy? How did you express that joy? How do you share that joy with others? How did that deliverance bring you closer to God or did you get complacent and fall back? What did you learn from either of those?
If we look to Christ in our suffering, we won’t 1. Suffer in guilt, 2. Suffer in anger or self-pity, 3. Suffer in impatience. Which of those three areas do you struggle with the most? How can we as a community help you?
Based on how you bear with others in their affliction and sorrows how much comfort would it appear you have received from the God of mercy and comfort? Have you ever received comfort from God, or have you just leaned into your own self-sufficiency? Do you enter into the suffering of others or do you avoid it or tell them to just get over it?
Do you believe that sorrow produces joy in the long run? Since the Bible makes that connection, where do you think the disconnect is in your mind?