Message Guide – The Promise, Week 2 | Your Pain Has Purpose
Key Takeaways
Your pain has a purpose. Your purpose is a promise.
We all know what it feels like to have a bad day. Unfortunately, bad days are a part of life, and we will likely also have to wait through some pretty tough seasons. While we wait, we may find ourselves wondering why God doesn’t just fix everything for us.
The Bible has a lot to teach us about how to manage the tension of living in the promises that God has for us now while we are still in a season of not yet. When we set our eyes on the promise and perspective that comes from being a follower of Jesus we will begin to see that our suffering right now is significant, but it is nothing compared to the peace and glory we will experience in our eternal life to come.
Jesus’s arrival is good news even in the midst of the worst days. We should also remember that the struggles we go through are not in vain.
God cares about our temporary circumstances but he also knows they serve a bigger purpose. The pain we experience has the ability to shape and strengthen us, and can also equip us to help others who will walk through the same thing. One day, when we meet Jesus in heaven, all of the pain and hurt we’ve experienced will be healed forever.
Until then we can live with confident hope that our pain has a purpose, and that purpose is a promise. If you’ve put your faith in Jesus, you can live with this kind of hope right now. The next step is to be baptized. Baptism is making a decision now to publicly declare that you trust God for what you don’t see yet.
Pray
Prayer is our time to talk to God. Let this prayer inspire your conversations with God this week.
Father, thank you for your love for me. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die on my behalf before I even decided to believe you or follow you.
I repent for all the times I’ve allowed my attention on the ‘here and now’ to distract me from the ‘not yet’. Lord, please help me to focus my attention and affections towards my eternal life in heaven with you, rather than being lured away by earthly distractions.
Holy Spirit, please help me to keep eternity with you in mind as I navigate the daily challenges in every area of my life. Please open my eyes to see and notice when I’m drifting, so that I can return to you. Please convict me according to your word in Psalms 139:23-24, and lead my affections until they are fully surrendered to your will, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Worship
Bring the worship set from this weekend into your Slot and Spot and sing with confident hope in God’s promises.
The angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. – Luke 2:10
- House of the Lord – Vertical Worship
- Believe for It – Cece Winans
- Washed – Elevation Rhythm
Learn
This week, read through the scripture shared in the message and dive deeper into God’s word.
Read
Watch
Listen
Reflect
Reflect on these questions during your Slot and Spot/discussions with others.
Have you ever had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? What made it so bad?
- How did the day affect your mood and attitude toward others? What, if anything, helped you to turn your perspective around?
Pastor Brad reminded us that our pain has a purpose. Can you think of a pain in your life, physical or emotional, that you can see now had a greater purpose?
- What was its purpose in your life? In the lives of others?
- How does it affect the way you see other struggles, even minor ones, in your life right now?
- How does it impact your fear of future hardships?
Read Romans 8:18-25. Despite great suffering, the apostle Paul describes a confident hope by saying that our current suffering cannot compare to our future glory.
- How do you tend to measure hope? Is it based on your current circumstances, or something else?
- What is something you can do today to help yourself, or others, keep your hope invested in God’s promises.
Reflect on your experience with Baptism. How has it impacted your faith?
- If you haven’t been baptized yet, what has stopped you?
- What is a step in your faith you can take right now to prepare to be baptized in the future??
Next Steps
Make a plan this week to remind someone else who may be walking through a bad day, of the confident hope that Jesus brings.
Invite them to join you next Sunday at church. Pray over your past and current hardships. Ask God to reveal ways that you can use the lessons they taught you to help someone else who may be walking through something similar.
