These discussion questions are connected from the message, Questions We Don’t Ask in Church: Where is God in My Suffering?, from Sunday, April 21, 2024. You can watch it here.
- What stood out for you from this message? Did anything Robyn said resonate with your experiences?
- We’re often taught that successful faith means good feelings, or experiencing the presence of God. Yet, if we’re honest, we probably don’t experience the presence of God as often as we’d like or in ways that feel dramatic or noteworthy. When in your life have you experienced this gap between what you expected from your Christian faith and what you’ve actually experienced? How did you navigate that?
- Robyn said, “God is present in the presence of others – in their casseroles, their rides, their tears and their prayers – if we let them.” In times of deep suffering, do you find yourself drawing closer to, or distancing yourself, from others? What does that look like and are there changes you could explore in order to allow others to hold hope for you?
- What is your experience with praying lament? Are you comfortable praying like the Psalmists in Psalm 13:1 or Psalm 22:1-2?
- Have you asked any of the questions we’ve asked throughout this mini-series? (Why is their evil and suffering in the world? Why are my prayers not answered? Where is God in my pain?) Do you feel as though you have some tools to navigate your faith through these seemingly unanswerable questions?