Week Two | Surviving 84,600 Seconds
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Week Two | It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way Online Bible Study
Reading Assignment – Chapters 3 & 4 | Pages 34-69
I have to admit, I am really good at staying busy. During a normal evening, aside from my regular evening routine, I typically have at least one other obligation that I have committed to. Honestly, the speed of my life can be tiring and at times I find myself longing for just one night with absolutely nothing to do.
That being said, if you had told me over a month ago that I would not only be teaching my students from home but only be allowed to leave my house for essential activities, I never would have believed you. Truthfully, I don’t think it would have sounded appealing. I am not very good at being still.
Living through a global pandemic is something that none of us have experienced before, and it comes with its own set of fears and anxieties. We are surrounded by the suffering and pain of our brothers and sisters. We are worried about the health and safety of our friends, family, and ourselves. We may be asking where are you, God?
Lysa puts into words what I am sure most of us are feeling right now,
“God, this really doesn’t add up. How do I see all this senseless suffering and still sing about You being a good, good Father? It adds so much fuel to the fires of skeptics. And quite honestly makes me cry. I don’t want to question You. But it’s hard when I’m so utterly disappointed. It feels like You’re not showing up here.”
Lysa TerKeurst, It’s Not Suppose to Be This Way (Pg. 40)
Friends, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t felt like this several times over the past few weeks. I’ve had a lot of free time to think, and it is as if all my thoughts kept coming back to this. How do I reconcile this image of a good, good Father with a world so full of brokenness, pain, and suffering?
We are living a life between two gardens. We came from a garden of perfection, the Garden of Eden as discussed in Genesis, and we are longing for that perfection to be restored as it states in Revelation. But how do we live in this in-between space? The answer can be found in one way, looking to Jesus’ example.
Jesus willingly came to Earth not only to die for our sins but to experience what it was like to be human.
In Hebrews 2:14-18 it says that Jesus shared in our humanity. All of it. He was fully human in every way. He easily could have chosen to only take part in the positive parts of humanity, but friends He chose it all. Jesus, who is equal with God chose not to use his divinity to His advantage. He came to be our example of how to navigate this life between two gardens.
We don’t have to have every situation figured out or understand everything completely. That’s not our job.
Instead, as it says in Hebrews 3:1, we need to simply “fix our thoughts on Jesus.”
“We don’t have to know the plan to trust there is a plan. We don’t have to feel good to trust there is good coming. We don’t have to see evidence of changes to trust that it won’t always be this way. We just have to close our physical eyes and turn our thoughts to Jesus. Fix our thoughts on Him.”
Lysa TerKeurst, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way (Pg. 48)
COMMUNITY CHAT
Let’s chat! We’d love to hear from you once you’ve had some time to read through this week’s reading assignments. Come back to this space & share your thoughts in the comments below about:
Identify – In this week’s reading we’re challenged to look beyond our circumstances and fix our eyes on Jesus. Lysa says that “We must let God’s Word become the words we believe and receive as truth. We must let God’s Word become the words of our story.”
What does God’s Word say about the reality of your present situation?
In the Word – This week’s Scripture focus comes from Matthew 6:9-11 (NIV). Download our weekly Scripture card. Print it and hang it in a place where you’ll come across it often this week, to aid in memorization.
Share with us in the comments; we’d love to hear from you!
Paige is a third grade teacher and YoungLife leader from Buckhannon, WV. She has a passion for reading, writing, photography, and sharing the love of Jesus with others, specifically high school students. She is the proud dog mom of one rescue pup named Millie, who keeps life interesting, to say the least. She loves to travel and go on “adventures” even if that’s just a late-night drive with friends. She is very excited to be a part of the Intentional Filling team for the current book study.
Paige’s favorite Scripture comes from Matthew 25:35-40.
“God, this really doesn’t add up. How do I see all this senseless suffering and still sing about You being a good, good Father? It adds so much fuel to the fires of skeptics. And quite honestly makes me cry. I don’t want to question You. But it’s hard when I’m so utterly disappointed. It feels like You’re not showing up here.”
What I always find amazing is that when I look back at times when I felt that way, it’s as if, although I couldn’t see it, God showed up in the biggest ways for me.
Kara, I think I highlighted and even circled this quote in my book because I have been there!! And I can definitely relate, that it seems that when He appears to be the quietest, is when He is working the hardest!
When I read that quote in the book it hit me how much that felt like my where I was letting my own thoughts get to during this time. I agree with you, I have those same experiences of looking back and seeing how God has worked in my life.
Jesus had to become human to understand our feelings, to experience our pain. I had never really put much thought into why it had to be this way. I have thought about this a lot this week. The hurt and suffering that Jesus had to feel in order to die for our sins.
Lori, it really makes you stop and think, doesn’t it? He knew what He was about to endure when He prayed in Gethsemane, and yet He surrendered to the Father. No wonder He sweat drops of blood. The isolation in those last hours alone had to have been excruciating, but the physical pain is unfathomable. What love!
For me, the reason behind why Jesus was sent to Earth was always to forgive our sins. Looking at the reasoning that He had to become human to experience what it is like for us, to suffer so He knows what is like to suffer, is amazing.