Week 6: WISDOM AND DISAPPOINTMENT
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On Sunday at church Travis preached on “What does Wisdom Say to Our Disappointment?”. Please make sure you have watched Sunday’s sermon before Community Group.
Read this overview
The Bible is full of disappointed people. Much of the book of Psalms contains groans and aches of people crying out to God because things aren’t going their way. Sometimes these cries are simply about moments of sadness or frustration. At other times the authors are disappointed in God Himself. Even those that we think of as the godliest people cry out to God in their disappointment. Disappointment is something all of us face…sometimes it is momentary; sometimes it follows us around. Nevertheless the Bible actually encourages us to express our disappointment to God – whether it’s with a humility in spirit or with questions and finger-pointing. This study is going to help us explore how God deals with our disappointment and how we can find hope in the midst of sadness.
Begin with silence and prayer
[5 minutes]
Sit down, get comfortable and ask someone to pray aloud for the study.
Then spend a few minutes in silence. Ask God to help us remove distractions from our minds, listen to what He is saying to and through each of us and change our lives accordingly.
DEBRIEF
Reflect on last week’s study application (smaller groups)
[10 minutes]
Last week Leon had us thinking about wisdom in the midst of anxiety.
He mentioned a man named Edwin H. Friedman [Jewish rabbi – family therapist – expert in family-systems theory], who believed that the only way to break the cycle of endemic anxiety in the West was to occupy the system as a “non-anxious presence”
That is: a well differentiated person, that is calm, patient, compassionate and able to active without being enveloped because they have a clear sense of boundary and a bigger perspective.
Leon asked us the following questions:
How might you be that non-anxious presence where you:
Live?
Work?
Worship?
Play/Recreate?
Other?
How did you put what you learned into practice in all these areas last week?
Were you able to live as a non-anxious person; as a person who cast their anxieties on the Lord? If so, how were you able to do that? If not, what prevented you?
DEEP DIVE
Open to the Bible together (whole group)
[15 minutes]
Have somebody read the following texts:
Psalm 13:1-6
How would you describe the disappointment David is feeling in this passage?
Who or what is David disappointed in?
Why would this be in the Bible? Why did God allow this sort of frustrated, heart-aching, finger-pointing disappointment to be recorded and preserved so that we might read it thousands of years later?
Why would David, after pouring out his heart and disappointment to God, then do a total 180 degree turn in verses 5-6? Is it possible to face disappointment, to question God and yet still retain faith like this? If so, how?
Read the following passages:
2 Corinthians 12:5-10
Romans 8:31-39
Where does Paul go with his disappointment?
What perspective does he have that we can learn from?
DISCIPLESHIP
Application for the coming week:
[5 minutes]
Travis shared four practical bits of wisdom in the Bible that we can use in the midst of disappointment:
Cry out to God. It’s biblical and we are encouraged to bring ALL our feelings to God because He can handle it.
Get perspective. Many times it is difficult to see how God is present while we are disappointed. Yet in so many stories in Scripture, we find a God who draws closer to those who are hurting, not farther away. In fact, God knows disappointment like a dear friend as we see in the life and death of Jesus. If God experiences disappointment and if He is with us in our disappointment, maybe this knowledge will give us comfort and peace even if things don’t change.
Lean harder into God, not less. When we are disappointed or go through a difficult time, we are often tempted to run away from God. But those that cope the best with disappointment, even if their situation never changes, are those that take ALL their sadness, frustration, confusion TO God.
Your disappointment is real and it’s rough, but it’s not the end. Whatever you have gone through, are going through or will go through, the Bible reminds us that the end of the story isn’t disappointment but praise.
Which of these four actions points do you need to practice this week? What do you need to focus on?
How can you do that this week?
Close in prayer
[15 minutes]