Further Study | Our Daily Bread University
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Ten Reasons to Believe in a God Who Allows Suffering

  1. Lesson One
    Suffering Comes With The Freedom To Choose
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Suffering Reveals What Is In Our Hearts
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  3. Lesson Three
    Suffering Takes Us To The Edge Of Eternity
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  4. Lesson Four
    God Can Turn Suffering Around For Our Good
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Pain Can Warn Us Of Danger
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  6. Lesson Six
    In Times Of Crisis We Find One Another
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  7. Lesson Seven
    Suffering Gives Opportunity To Trust God
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  8. Lesson Eight
    Pain Loosens Our Grip On This Life
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  9. Lesson Nine
    God Suffers With Us In Our Suffering
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  10. Lesson Ten
    God's Comfort Is Greater Than Our Suffering
    5 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  11. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment
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Digging In

Read: Genesis 2:15-17 and Genesis 3:1-19.

In Genesis 2:15-17, God gave man three things: privilege, responsibility, and boundaries. How does this passage define each of these things?

In Genesis 3:1-8, how did the serpent, and then Eve, distort the commands of God found in Genesis 2:15-17?

The consequences of Adam and Eve’s choices are found in Genesis 3:9-19. How do we begin to see the connection between human choice and human suffering in those consequences?

Enter your thoughts into your personal journal.

Going Further

Consider ways in which you have experienced a measure of suffering due to choices in the past. What would you do differently? The same? Why?

Develop a strategy for making choices and decisions that seeks to incorporate the long view. How can you continually ask, “What are the long-term implications of this decision?”

Enter your thoughts into your personal journal.

Final Thoughts

Related scripture passages to study:

Psalm 40:11
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.

Psalm 91:14
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

John 17:14
I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

What choices do you face today that may affect your life, your work, your family, your friendships?

Read the Answers To Tough Questions article Why would God allow bad things to happen to “good” people?, from Questions.org.

Enter your thoughts into your personal journal.