HARD TIMES - Sarah
Happy New Year to you and welcome back!
Term 1, 2022 brings a new season and a new series! These days we are experiencing hard times and that is the focus for the term. Do you think these are hard times? There are many who are sick, passing away, struggling with lockdown or lack of contact with others.
If you are not experiencing hard times please don’t skip this series - it is the perfect time to learn all about troubles and suffering, so that when it comes, you will be prepared, you will be rooted in your faith and you will be able to continue putting your trust in him.
If you are experiencing hard times, then this series is most definitely going to help you to find out all about what God is doing in your life.
So it’s only fitting to talk about hard times. There are heaps of passages in the bible that talk about hard times. It says to expect hard times and be happy about them:
Bible Passage: James 1:2
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
Bible Passage: Philippians 1:29
“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”
Bible Passage: 1 Peter 4:12
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
What do you think?
Would you rather…
Eat slugs or mice?
Would you rather be extremely allergic to your favourite food or forced to eat your least favourite food once a week?
Would you rather always have bad gas or always have really dry mouth?
Would you rather live in a house with five million cockroaches or a house with five million flies?
Story Time!
The story from this episode is all about Sarah's suffering as a barren mother, and can be found in Genesis 18.
God may not rescue everyone in the way we expect, or when we expect. He may be growing you through the circumstances he is letting you live through, or maybe he will rescue you in the end when it is time to come to heaven. We don’t know. The main thing is to stay faithful to him.
Question Time!
Describe a time when you have suffered. What happened?
Was there anything good that happened by you experiencing that?
Was there a reason why God allowed you to have that experience?
Next episode we will be looking at some of the benefits of suffering. Benefits you say? Yes, the bible is full of verses that explain how good suffering is for our character, as well as other things too!
