-
Lesson OneDisappointment With God5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson TwoDistraction5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson ThreeDangerous Relationships5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FourUnchanged Tendencies5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FiveSelf-Reliance5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson SixPrayerlessness5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson SevenCarelessness5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson EightAn Unexamined Heart5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson NineAn Unseen Enemy5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson TenA Lack Of Accountability5 Activities1 Assessment
-
Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 139
Discussion Questions
-
List three of the more memorable people in the Old or New Testaments who became disappointed with God because He didn’t respond to them the way they thought He should have responded.
-
43 Replies
-
God, the Prophet Elisha, and the Prophet Elijah.
-
Jonah, the rich young ruler, and moses
-
Elijah, Jonah and Job
-
Great answer Scotia. They would be the top three on my list also.
-
-
Three memorable people in the bible who became disappointed with God are Job, Moses, and Mary and Martha.
-
Paul was initially disappointed that God did not remove his thorn in the flesh, although he eventually saw its purpose. Naomi lost her husbands and ultimately her sons and grieved for a long time. She began to call herself Mara, meaning “bittter” due to her losses. Eventually, she came out of that darkness but she did not know that at the time it was happening. Hannah was also disappointed due to her infertility and prayed and prayed for a child.
-
Sometimes people say they are Christians but act as if they are mad at God. What are some things you have observed that have caused you to be mad at God?
-
30 Replies
-
The presence of suffering, my own suffering, or things I don’t understand but think I do
-
Children afflicted with horrible illnesses such as cancer, the horrors of war, the mass extinction of many species of wildlife due to poaching and man’s greed and depravity, the ravages of drug and alcohol addiction.
-
There are a number of things over the years that have caused me to be mad at God for a while. Many times it is my own unmet expectations. This can take the form of prayers that are yet unanswered (taking too long). Being allowed to seemingly go through a very difficult situation “alone” has been a cause also. God choosing to be silent and my prayers seeming to go nowhere can do that too. Knowing that I am doing my very best and yet God still seems distant can quickly cause me to become mad at Him. Feeling forsaken or not heard is a frequent for me. I don’t like to feel as though God is teasing me, stringing me along, or playing/toying with me. When I feel like a powerless pawn in some sort of cosmic game, I become very mad! There are other things but this will give you a general idea of triggers.
-
Difficulties at work can cause me great worry. In my personal life, when things haven’t worked out as I thought they should when I did all I could… I have wondered where God was.
-
I have been mad at God when I see “Christians” sinning and sinning, and it seems like everything good happens to them even though they are waist deep in sin. Hard to not say to yourself, “Well, maybe if I stopped watching my Ps and Qs, things may go right for me too then.
-
What are some of the more important or noticeable reasons why people who say they’re Christians don’t act like it?
-
30 Replies
-
Peer pressure
-
Some Christians are angry and/or disappointed in God because they feel He hasn’t lived up to his end of the bargain, but we need to remember that God doesn’t make deals with us to give us what we want whenever we ask for it. It is challenging for us as humans to comprehend God’s plan. Anger and disappointment quickly lead to engaging in sinful behaviors. When we maintain our trust in God we can cultivate patience and hold on to hope.
-
Let’s be honest. Christian are just fallible humans and don’t always properly reflect Christ. So, we don’t always act like Christians should. There are an infinite number of reasons why this may occur. All the possible reasons stem from our own imperfect and incorrect thinking. When we do not keep all of our focus on God, then we are subject to being a Christian but not acting like it. Lack of proper focus and little or no prayer time and Bible study can affect our actions also. Our attitude is directly linked to our relationship with the Father. Sometimes, a need to fit in will also cause a believer to temporarily act out of character for a Christian. In reality, we can be acting like the Christian God has called us to be and yet be told we are not acting rightly by people of the world who have only a stereotypical view of Christian behavior. In the end we must live according to the statutes of Christ and not the ideas of this world. We are all works in progress who have not yet achieved perfection.
-
1. They have not yet come to a better or more complete understanding of being Christ-like.
2. The Lord is still working in their hearts.
3. They’re struggling with Christ-centeredness versus self-centeredness.
-
Life’s struggles and losses can cause severe angst in anyone. When we lose a spouse, child, parent and death is kicking on the door of our own hearts, this struggle is very real. When a job is lost, contract broken, or a friend proves to be an enemy life’s struggle is very real. When we give everything, but that’s proves to be inadequate whether in work, school, or friendship, the struggle is real. When we are in the midst of a consuming struggle it is very easy to take our eyes and blame our struggle on the one who created everything. Why, I think b cause he isn’t walking with us today in the flesh, but in spirit.