Comfort and pain are as old as the human experience. Yet, we struggle to understand their place in our life and faith. Why do I not feel God’s comfort? If He loves me, how could God let this happen? After completing this Bible Plan you and your group now have some biblical context for these questions. Pick and choose questions from the discussion guide below to make the most of your conversation about Finding Comfort In Pain.
Start Reading
Pick a week and lead your group to go through this Bible Plan.
Start Talking
Find a conversation starter for your group.
- Did you ever have a major wipe out as a kid? Spill the details.
- What preposterous things did adults do/say to comfort you? Describe nonsensical comfort you’ve received as an adult.
Start Thinking
Questions that get your group thinking.
- How does understanding comfort as “together-strength” change your perspective of pain?
- In his book, The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” How do you feel about Lewis’ suggestion?
- Think aloud. Do you live like your Savior is in the boat? Do you ask and believe tenaciously like the Father is good?
Start Sharing
Choose questions that create openness.
- Talk about a more serious “wipe out” in your life. Decipher together whether you find yourself wanting God to take you out of it, or come into it with His strength.
- Suppose as Paul does that your pain is a gift. When you unwrap it, what’s inside for you? What would you gain?
- What does your pain reveal about your source for meaning? What can your pain give you that will last forever?
Start Praying
Be bold and pray specifically.
Pray together. Thank the Father for his goodness to you, ask to know the presence of Jesus in your storm, to sense the comfort of the Holy Spirit in your struggle, and to savor the beauty of God’s perfect power in your weakness.
Keep Reading
Dig back into your favorite scriptures from Finding Comfort In Pain.
James 1:1-12 Isaiah 53:1-12 2 Corininthians 12:6-10
Matthew 7:7-11 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 John 10:10
Start Doing
Commit to a step and live it out this week.
- Forecast an upcoming pain point. How you will be ready to apply what you’ve discovered.
- Write down your answers to the questions, “Why am I here? Why did Jesus join me here?” Put them somewhere you look everyday.
- Who else would benefit from this reading plan? Reach out to them today and commit to go through it together.
Bible Plan Recap
Day 1: Pain As Joy
In James 1:2, we are asked to consider trials of many kinds as pure joy.
Day 2: Together-Strength
Recall the original meaning of the word, “comfort.” Also, consider Jesus’ response to pain in 1 Peter 2:21-25.
Day 3: Thorns and Roses
In 2 Corinthians 12:6-10, Paul explains that a thorn was given to him. In essence, he calls his perpetual pain a gift that reveals God’s perfect power and comfort for man.
Day 4: Ask and Believe
From Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4 to James 1 5-9, the Bible makes it clear that we must ask AND believe.
Day 5: What’s The Point?
Big pain strips our world-view down to the bare essentials. We’re left asking why we’re here. A more helpful question, “why did Jesus join me here?”
Day 6: Suffering = Perseverance and Hope ≠ Dissapointment
Romans 5:1-5 tells us to glory in our suffering because it takes us all the way to hope, and hope rooted in God’s love will never disappoint.
