There Is Another in the Fire: Suffering, Part 2

In one paragraph

This was the second part of Brad's two-part series on suffering. He covered three situations: how Christians should respond to collective tragedy, how to come alongside someone who is suffering, and how to prepare yourself to suffer well. The thread running through all three is that suffering is real and meaningful, God is sovereign over it, and no one faces it alone. Brad opened with a brief...

Read together

1. Hebrews 4:16 opening encouragement to come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy
2. Lamentations 3:22-23 God's compassions never fail, mercies new every morning, great is his faithfulness
3. Psalm 32:8 God promises to instruct and counsel with his loving eye on us
4. Luke 13 collective suffering and God's historic chastening of cultures and nations
5. Job 2:11-13 Job's three friends came, sat with him seven days in silence because his pain was very great
6. Ephesians 4:11-13 Christ gave apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service
7. Luke 21:16-19 Jesus promises disciples will be betrayed and some put to death yet not a hair of your head will perish
8. Luke 12:6-7 five sparrows sold for two pennies yet not one unnoticed by God, hairs of your head all counted
9. Psalm 22:1 my God my God why have you forsaken me, also the words Christ called out from the cross
10. Psalm 13:1 how long O Lord will you forget me forever, how long will you hide your face
11. Mark 9:24 father of the dying girl says to Jesus I believe help my unbelief
12. Psalm 34:18 the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit
13. John 11:35 Jesus wept, the shortest verse, Jesus did not pretend to be happy
14. Hebrews 12:2 who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame
15. Romans 8:28 cited as an example of a ninja star verse thrown at people in suffering
16. Isaiah 42:3 quoted via Matthew 12, Jesus so gentle a bruised reed he will not break a smoldering wick not snuff out
17. Matthew 28 great commission, Jesus promises to be with you always even to the end of the age
18. Daniel 3 Shadrach Meshach Abednego in the furnace, Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure like a son of the gods
19. Philippians 2 Jesus set aside his equality with God took on flesh and died for our sins
20. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 closing verse, God the father of mercies and all comfort comforts us so we can comfort one another

Talk about it

1. Brad described Job's friends as being off to a great start by sitting with Job in silence for seven days before they started talking. How hard do you find it to simply be present with someone who is suffering without trying to fix things or say something helpful, and what gets in the way?
2. Brad warned against throwing what he called 'ninja star verses' at people who are hurting, saying that truth misapplied to a tender wound can act more like poison than medicine. Can you think of a time, either when you were the one suffering or the one trying to help, when a true and well-meant verse landed badly? What made the difference?
3. Brad pointed out that David's suffering came from very different sources, a hard upbringing, Saul's attacks, his own sin with Bathsheba, and his son Absalom's rebellion, and yet what made David a man after God's own heart was not that he was always pursuing healing but that he was always pursuing God. What does that distinction look like in practical terms for you right now?
4. Brad said that bitterness or greatness are basically the only two long-term outcomes through suffering, drawing that from figures like Jonah and David. Do you agree with that, and what do you think makes the difference between someone who comes through suffering with greater depth and someone who comes through it bitter?
5. Brad closed by noting that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had each other in the furnace, and said the church's job is to be that for one another. What is one specific thing you could do this week to show up for someone in your life who is in a hard season?