Hard Knock Life
February 10, 2023

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“My suffering was good for me. For it taught me to pay attention to Your decrees.” —Psalm 119:71 NLT

HARD KNOCK LIFE

SOMETIMES IT TAKES

TO GET OUR

Jonah

“The Jonah prayed to the Lord His God from inside the fish.” —Jonah 2:1 NLT

Philip

“Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for Him. Turning to Philip, he asked, ‘Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?’ He was testing Philip, for He already knew what He was going to do.

Philip replied, ‘Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!’ Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. ‘There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?’

‘Tell everyone to sit down,’ Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward He did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, ‘Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.’ So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.” —John 6:5-13 NLT

Disciples

“As Jesus was walking along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. ‘Rabbi,’ His disciples asked Him, ‘Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?’
‘It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,’ Jesus answered. ‘This happened so the power of God could be seen in Him.’” —John 9:1-3 NLT

Lazarus

“Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.’” —John 11:14-15 NLT

AFFLICTION IS

WHEN IT FOCUSES OUR ATTENTION ON

“My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to Your decrees.” —Psalm 119:71 NLT

SUFFERING IN

CAN TEACH US THE VALUE OF GOD’S

“Your instructions are more valuable to me than millions in gold and silver.” —Psalm 119:72 NLT

Discussion Questions

Describe an expereince in your life where a bad thing became a good thing because it made you aware of a worse thing you were then able to address. What do experiences like this help us understand about “bad” things we expereince?

Sometimes it takes affliction to get our attention. And sometimes God will use this method of teaching us as well. Which of the examples above: Jonah, Philip, the Disciples, or Lazarus, stand out to you the most? Why does that one resonate with you?

Would you be willing to share a time where God used an affliction to get your attention? What happened? What did you learn from God as a result?

David tells us his suffering was good because it taught him to pay attention to God’s decrees. How does that verse line up with how you typically respond to suffering? How can it help you moving forward?