Main Theme: God leads His people into situations where He knows there will be suffering, for a greater good.
Read in Class: Exodus 14. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Why did God bring the Israelites to a place where He knew they would be terrified? In verse 31 what lesson did the Israelites learn from this experience?
Apply: Why is trusting God sometimes so hard, even though we may know many of the wonderful promises He has for us? Recount some difficult situation you believe the Lord led you into in order to teach you to “believe” in and to “fear” Him.
Share: Your friend says, “In the Bible we read about faith moving mountains, and God opening up the sea, but we never see that today.” How do you reply to your friend?
Study: What did God reveal to Israel about Himself at Marah and at Rephidim? What lessons should they have learned?
Apply:In Rephidim, what question did the children of Israel ask? Exod. 17:7. Have you ever asked the same question? If so, why? How did you feel, and what lessons did you learn after you had it answered? How many times do we need to get it answered before we stop asking it altogether?
Share: Your friend says she wonders how a piece of wood made the water sweet. Any ideas? Here is one idea.
Read in Class: Luke 4:1-13. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What lessons can you learn from this account about how to overcome temptation and not give in to sin?
Apply: What resources did Jesus use to overcome temptation? Which of these resources have you used to overcome temptations?
Share: Your friend asks you why the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted? Does God lead us into temptation? What do you share with your friend?
Read in Class: 1 Peter 1:6-9. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What ultimate assurance does Peter seek to give these people amid their trials? What does this hope mean for us, too?
Apply: How have you benefited by your trials?
Share: Can you think of someone going through a particularly difficult trial? Can you reach out to them this week with a visit, phone call, or card, offering them encouragement and hope from the Bible?
“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2 NLT
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they [were] bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, [which] when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee. Exodus 15:23-26
Why did God have Moses put a tree in the bitter water? How did a tree make the water sweet? In 1 peter 2:24, Peter refers to the cross as a tree.
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 1 Peter 2:24 NKJV
In a world of hate and bitterness, Jesus died on that tree to save us from a bitter world. Sin has caused suffering and bitterness but Jesus was lifted up on the cross to make our lives sweet again. I and many others believe this is why Moses used a tree to make bitter water sweet again.
If life has made you bitter, Jesus is offering living water that can make your life sweet again.
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 14:13-14 NKJV
I would like to invite you to find the sweet life through fellowship with Jesus and other believers, by finding a Christ-centered Bible based church in your area. You can find one here.
You may study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.
It was a special Sabbath today at the Homosassa Seventh-day Adventist Church as Eddie gave all of his life to Jesus, because Jesus gave all of His life for Eddie. Several months ago Danny and Maritza started coming to our church and we began studying the Bible together. Soon their friend Eddie started coming to church with them and joined our Bible studies. Eddie Started telling me about the changes he was making in his life, as he decided to live for Jesus and be baptized. Eddie has family members who have fallen asleep, and he wants to be with them and Jesus one day. All of heaven and the Homosassa SDA church rejoiced as Eddie was baptized today.
“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.” Galatians 3:26-29 NLT
Eddie wrote about how happy he was to be baptized and to know the salvation that comes from living your life for Jesus. After the baptism we gave Eddie his baptism certificate and a gift study Bible. Eddie shared with the church family how he let God change his life so he can live with God here on earth every day, as well as being ready to meet Jesus when He comes again. Don’t let the sun go down on you before you make the decision to give all of yourself to Jesus, because He has given all of Himself for you. I would love to help you make this decision and prepare for baptism if you would like to reach out to me at racerthree@gmail.com.
Read Together: 1 Peter 4:12-19. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: What is Peter’s Message?
Apply: Peter was referring to trials that are the consequence of standing up for Christ. But there are also other reasons that trials come. How could 1 Peter 4:12-19 help you to explain tactfully to a friend why not to be surprised at the painful trials he or she might face?
Share: Your friend asks, “How can I be glad when I am suffering?” What do you tell your friend?
Read Together:1 Peter 5:8-11. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: How should we react to Satan’s prowling? How does God promise to help us?
Apply: Think about the other ways that Satan causes pain. How could reading 1 Peter 5:8-11 help us to deal with the anguish that we experience because of our fate in living in a sinful world in which Satan wreaks havoc?
Share: Your friend asks why God allows Satan to prowl us? What do you tell your friend?
Read Together:Jeremiah 9:7-16. Define the main idea of this passage.
Study: God says that he will “refine and test” (NRSV), or “melt” (KJV), Judah and Jerusalem (Jer. 9:7, NIV). What two reasons does God give for this? (Jer. 9:13,14). How will the refining happen? (Jer. 9: 15,16).
Apply: Think about the sins that you struggle with. If God were going to refine and test you today, how might He do it? What action could you take now to deal with this before God would want to take drastic steps with you, as He did with Israel?
Share: Your friend asks what it means in verse 16 where God says he will destroy or consume us? After all doesn’t Jesus want to save us? What do you tell your friend? How could this quote help you explain? “If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour & Company, Inc., 1963), p. 271.
Study: How does Paul deal with his “thorn”? Do you think that Paul’s weakness had any other spiritual benefits to him? How can the way that Paul responds help you to deal with “thorns” that you may have to carry?
Apply: In what ways might God’s ideas for your spiritual development be very different from your own? Think about areas in your life in which you need to become more fruitful in righteousness. What spiritual qualities would you like to ask God to develop in you through His “pruning”?
Share: Can you think of someone who is going through a difficult time right now? This week can you reach out to them and share an encouraging passage, and pray with them, if even on the phone?
“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” 2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT
Friends, as I take a look at this Sabbath lesson’s “The Week at a Glance: What are the causes of the difficult times that we experience through our lives?” I am discouraged myself. I just got off the phone with a friend, who lost his son a year ago, and has had a wife in and out of the hospital since Thanksgiving. He has his own health issues, and now he just informed me this evening, his wife is back in the hospital with a broken hip. Speculation is she broke her hip in the hospital that just sent her home last week. I don’t have all the answers, if any at all, because at this point I am crying out to God, “How much is one family supposed to take?”
I have to be honest, the last several years have been good to me. But I remember going through the fire and asking God how much more I was supposed to take. Friends told me my trials were so I could develop patience. I told them if everything would just go my way I wouldn’t need patience! Friends told me God was working on my character. So I woke up the next morning and suggested to God we just take a break from working on my character for a while. Just let me enjoy life for a while. It seemed everything was a crisis, a trial or some moral dilemma. I just wanted to enjoy the carefree days of my youth again. But while I may have more questions than answers tonight I have learned a few things about what causes the difficult times in our lives, or why they come our way.
Sure we have all seen the Facebook meme, that says “Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is because we are stupid and make stupid choices.” As funny as that may sound there is a lot of truth to that. Sometimes we create our own problems. Years ago I was going through a breakup with my fiancée, and had lost my job. Nothing was going right. I moved to a new apartment and changed banks. I threw the old checks away in the apartment dumpster. You guessed it. As if I did not have enough going on, now I had to take off from my new job to go to the police station on several occasions and prove to them I did not write those checks. That had nothing to do with God working on my character. It had nothing to do with my former girlfriend or my job. There was a reason for it all though. The reason for it all was because I made a stupid choice and threw the checks away without shredding them. Still I survived everything. Even Agur, who shared his wisdom in Proverbs said,
I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense. Proverbs 30:2 NLT
Sure enough sometimes our own stupidity is the only reason for our problems. Good news is God looks out for stupid people like Agur and me. By the way I realized my own foolishness. I did not need anyone to tell me, and I do not need to tell anyone else they are stupid. Only a narcissist will try to make someone else feel stupid. And actually I don’t feel stupid. I know I am not alone. I just thought while we are looking for reasons for difficult times, we can’t ignore this explanation.
Another reason for difficult times is it does indeed increase our faith. When you were in school you may have noticed the math books often had the answers in the back of the book. But your teacher did not want you to just write the answer down. She wanted you to work the problem out and show why “X” is the answer. You worked the problem out, not to find the answer as much as you did to find out why it was the answer. The Bible tells us Jesus is the answer. But we need to work out our problems in life for the same reason we needed to work out our math problems in school. So we know why Jesus is the answer. In Mark 4:35-40 Jesus tells His disciples to cross the lake in a boat. A huge storm comes. Jesus knew that storm was coming when He told His disciples to cross the lake. After calming the storm Jesus asked His disciples why they didn’t have any faith. But weren’t they showing faith when they asked Him to calm the storm? Sure, but that is not what Jesus was talking about. When Jesus said, “Where is your faith?” He was asking them why they needed Him to calm the storm, instead of just riding out the storm with Him. After all, sailboats can’t get anywhere without some wind. Sometimes its the storms that get us to where we need to be. Why should Jesus calm a storm He just sent them into? The storm was there for a reason. We show more faith and growth when we ride the storm out with Jesus, instead of asking Him to calm every little wind that blows our way. I am reminded of a saying, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” Maybe instead of asking God to calm every storm we should ask Him for dancing lessons.
But my friend’s phone call tonight is still on my mind. After all they have been through I don’t think God needs to work on their faith and character anymore, but then again I am not God and I really have no clue. I do remember a similar experience with my own mother. She had tons of health issues, and had been battling cancer when she fell and broke her hip. Again I thought, come on God! How much more can my poor mother take! My mother ended up making it through not one but two hip surgeries. I was sure the broken hip was going to do her in. But it didn’t! I honestly believe the rehab made her more strong and determined! My aunt who was a nurse agreed with me. Instead of killing her it made her stronger. She lived several years after the broken hip. When she was diagnosed with cancer she was given 2 to 3 years to live, and that was if she took the treatments. She refused the treatments and lived 12 more years. I truly think the broken hip gave her a reason to fight and get some of those 12 years.
After all, I remember when I got sick many years ago and had to go to the emergency room. I did not have good insurance like I do now and was left with quite a bill. I called a friend who was remodeling their home and asked if I could work on the side for them to earn the extra money to pay the medical bill. In the end I made way more money than what I owed on the medical bill. My trip to the emergency room created an opportunity to get a side job where I not only paid the bill, but turned my whole financial situation around for the better.
Sometimes we go through difficult times to grow our faith and develop our character. Sometimes it is so we can be more sympathetic to others.
He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT
Its very important we assure others who are suffering that they are not suffering alone. Of course that does not mean we have to “one up” their suffering. Actually when people are suffering they don’t need us to share our problems, they just need us to listen to theirs. But we need to know we are not alone in suffering. In the movie Black Hawk Down, an entire military troop is injured. The general tells the private to take a Humvee load of injured soldiers to the hospital. The private protests, “But sir I am injured.” To which the general responds, “Everyone is injured!” We may have to be injured caregivers at times, but even then we are not alone.
Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. 1 Peter 5:9 NLT (last part)
Satan wants us to feel alone and isolated in our sufferings, but our sufferings should actually bring us all closer together.
Job’s friends did a miserable job of trying to comfort Job with all their philosophy. I doubt I have done any better at answering Sabbath’s question at a glance, concerning what causes difficult times. Like I said earlier, after getting off the phone tonight with my friend I have more questions than answers about why God has allowed them to suffer so. But while I don’t have the answers, God has given us some promises.
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. Romans 8:18 NLT
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NLT
Please pray for my friend who called me tonight, and for his wife. Please pray for everyone who has had more than their fair share of difficulties lately. By the way, I said earlier, “to be honest the last several years have been good to me.” Well to be more honest, God has always been good to me, All. The. Days. Of. My. Life.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 NLT
If not before, when we get to God’s house, we will understand better why we went through such difficult times, and we will have many triumphs to celebrate. We will also see that even in the difficult times, God’s goodness and mercy were with us, all the days of our life.
For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. 1 Peter 2:25 KJV
The Bishop, or as some translations put it, “guardian” of our souls is Christ Himself. When I was a very young Bible worker, I worked in a three church district in Texas. The senior pastor and I rotated preaching at two churches one week and then the other one the next. I was wherever the senior pastor was not. One day I shared with a retired pastor that because of this I felt like I did not have a pastor. The retired pastor shared with me that Psalm 23:1 says,
The Lord is my shepherd…
He explained to me that Christ was my pastor. I found later that in Spanish it reads,
Jehová es mi pastor…Salmo de David 23:1 Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR1960)
Making it even more clear and literal that God is my pastor. Since that time I have learned to depend more on God and less on human pastors. When my sister and father and I met at my mother’s bed the night she died, we did not feel the need to call for a pastor to join us, for hope and comfort. God was with us that night. God was our pastor. He gave us all the hope and comfort we needed.
I have found it interesting over the years, how certain churches react to not having a pastor for a while. Some churches are afraid to make any kind of a move without a pastor. Several months ago I was called to do Bible studies for baptism in a church that had no senior pastor. I performed the baptisms because the associate pastors of that church did not want to study or baptize anyone without a senior pastor. When I heard this I could not help remembering Ellen White’s response, when members wanted to delay a general conference meeting until the GC president could arrive. She said,
I have seen another church holding Revelation Seminars and evangelistic meetings without a human pastor, as it continued to grow and flourish. As a matter of fact another church plant sprouted from these meetings, and the local elder of the church became the pastor of the church plant. Remember while the world wanders after the beast, God’s people are not following humans, they are following the Lamb wherever He goes. See Revelation 14:4.
The branches do not rely on the other branches for their nourishment. They rely on the vine. Likewise, when I was a new Bible Worker in that three church district, I had to rely on the Vine, which is Christ Himself, instead of relying on a human pastor, another branch for my spiritual nutrition. I had to let Christ be my pastor. Of course I still have pastor friends to counsel with. Proverbs 24:6 says there is safety in many counselors. Still, Isaiah 9:6 teaches me that ultimately Christ is my Counselor. Psalm 23:1 tells me Christ is my pastor. Christ can be your pastor too.
Study: What do these verses teach us about how the Shepherd cares for His sheep?
Apply: Read Psalm 23:1. The Reina-Valera 1960 version of this passage reads, “Jehová es mi pastor.” How is God your pastor? How does knowing God is your pastor help you have healthy and balanced expectations from your human pastor?
Share: A friend asks if you have ever felt God’s presence leading you like a shepherd? What do you share with your friend?
Read Together: Psalm 23:1-4. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: Where all does the Shepherd lead His sheep? Is it always in a desirable location?
Apply: When going through a dark valley, would you rather be led, followed, guided, pushed, or just left alone? Why?
Share: Your friend asks why Jesus would ever lead you into a dark valley? What do you tell your friend? See Mark 4:35-40.*
Read Together: Psalm 23:5. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Study: what does it mean to be anointed with oil and have a feast provided for us in the midst of our enemies?
Apply: What types of enemies have you had in your life? How have you responded to those who have tried to hurt you or those you care for? How well did you follow Christ’s words to us in Matthew 5:44, or Paul’s in Romans 12:18-21?
Share: Your friend asks you how God has protected and even blessed you in the presence of your enemies? What do you tell your friend?
Read Together: Psalm 23:6. Discuss the main idea of this passage.
Apply: What picture do you get in your mind if you imagine goodness and unfailing love “pursuing” you? What do you think David meant to tell us about God by describing His care for us this way?
Share: After reading, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,” your friend asks if this includes the bad or even tragic days? If so, how could God’s love and goodness be with us on those days? What do you tell your friend?
* Please notice in this story, it is Jesus’ idea to cross the lake, knowing full well they would run into a storm.
Friday’s section of this week’s lesson asks the question, “Once Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers feared that now Joseph would get revenge. What does this teach about the guilt that they still harbored? What does Joseph’s reaction teach us about forgiveness for the guilty?”
Maybe the brothers had a hard time believing Joseph had forgiven them because they had a hard time forgiving themselves. For spiritual growth and health I think its important to not only forgive others, but also to forgive ourselves.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV
Ever been haunted by your past? Sometimes I will have a flashback of some off-the-cuff smart remark I made to an elder when I was kid, and I will still cringe and want to go hide under a rock 40 years later! I believe Paul’s history of persecuting Christians may have haunted him too. Except for the fact that Paul never persecuted the Christians. That was Saul. Paul was a new creature,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
The story goes of a man who was driving down an old highway out in the country when he accidentally ran over a cat. He pulled over and inspected the cat, which sure enough was dead. He looked and saw a house in the distance at the top of a hill. He took the dead cat to the door and knocked. An old lady answered the door, and he said, “I am sorry Ma’m is this your cat?”
“Well it was she responded.” The man told her how sorry he was that he had just hit and killed her cat. She forgave him and they both took the cat to the backyard and buried it. A few weeks later the man found himself driving past the house again.
The terrible memories came back again, and he drove up to the house, went in the backyard, dug up the dead cat and took it to the front door again. When the lady answered, he started telling her all over how sorry he was! She reminded him she already forgave him and she helped the man bury the cat again. A few more weeks went by and the man found himself driving by the house again and once again was overcome with grief, and went and dug the cat back up and took it to the house. By this time the woman was fed up and ordered him to stop bringing the dead cat to her door!
God does not want us bringing dead cats to His door either. Don’t go digging up what His grace has buried. He wants us to leave our dead cats behind us and press for the goal. God wants to make you a new creature, just like He made Saul a new creature and turned him into Paul.
In Light of The Cross 
