Doubt Week 3 -
Can I believe when there is so much suffering?

Read: Romans 5:1-5

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Read 1 Peter 3:17-18

17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

Discussion:

1. What stands out to you as you read these two passages?

2. What do you think Paul means when he writes ‘we glory in our sufferings’?

3. How is it that suffering might actually lead to a deeper faith in Jesus?

4. How Does knowing that Christ suffered help us in our own moments of suffering?

Apply

1. Other than christianity, what are some ways people in the world, around us try to make sense of the suffering they experience?

2. How would you respond to someone who said, I can’t believe in a God who would allow this much suffering?

3. Have there been times in your life, that your relationship with God has sustained you through suffering or given you strength to endure it?

Share & Pray

Are there any areas of difficulty, pain, or suffering that you are seeking to trust God in at the moment?

Resources to recommend
In Faith and Doubt Podcast “Doubt and the problem of suffering”

Book to buy: Walking with God through Pain & Suffering - Tim Keller