(Extend lesson)
We need Jesus to help us prepare for the pain and anxieties in life
- We need to…
- Know how to respond
- Know how to depend on him instead of ourselves
- Know that faith in God helps to erase the false idea that life should be fair
Preparation…
Ask: When do people turn to God or reject God the most?…In circumstances when comfortability is taken from them (Ex. Someone close to you dies, anxiety, depression, failing even though you are doing your best).
Talk about human tendencies: It is so easy to ask “Why”? “Why is this happening to me”? “What did I do to deserve this”? Unfortunately, people have a Newton Equilibrium way of thinking on life. “For every action, there is an equal or opposite reaction” when it comes to good and bad situations in life. We expect that good things should be happening to us because we are good people. Unfortunately, difficult life situations occur and then we often try to find something to blame. If life doesn’t go along with our conceptual idea of fairness, we often start blaming God or we blame ourselves.
Talk about what happens when we rely on God: Those who have learned to trust in God can depend on Him and find their comfort in their faith in Him.
How does faith in God help?: Our faith in God reminds us that we can’t control everything. God can help us from giving into the temptation of that misleading idea of control. If we don’t put our full faith in God, we tend to not have the readiness to adapt and respond appropriately in circumstances when comfortability is taken from us.