Week 15: Suffering and Hope
Weekly Chapters:
II Samuel 15-I Kings 3
Passage of the Week:
II Kings 1:5
Suffering
Noun
1. state of a person that undergoes pain, distress, adversity
Thesaurus:
· Anguish
· Hardship
· Difficulty
· Torment
Hope
Noun
1. feeling that what is wanted can be had or events will turn out for the best
Thesaurus:
· Anticipation
· Believe
· Faith
· Optimism
Father God,
As we go into this week’s study, give us the heart and mind to see what You want us to see so that we can develop into the person we are meant to be. Give me the strength to confront my emotions.
Amen
Authentic vulnerability:
Suffering and hope, almost opposites. When one is suffering, Hope seems so far away. Yet, when one is hopeful, they are turning their eyes away from suffering.
We all know of a point where suffering is so real to us. The loss of a loved one, a parent, a friend, devastating news financially, a car accident, or loss of a job. And those times, hope does not appear immediately, we are too deep in the suffering
How do we access hope? How do we find help when we are too deep into our suffering?
What is your Authentic Truth?
Study:
We’ve all suffered we have all felt grief and misery. Life is not a promise of constant joy and happiness.
Our grief and suffering bring on gifts that we would not know or value otherwise. Through our suffering and hardship, there is hope: hope for a better time, hope for happiness and healing.
God allows us to go through times of suffering. These are times of growth for us, times of learning who we are and challenging our senses. The overcoming of suffering and grief breaking through to the other side of hope is true strength.
We see in II Samuel that David is a broken man. After his fall, due to his relationship with Bathsheeba, David was no longer in good favor with God. By strategizing to kill Bathsheeba’s husband, who was loyal to David, God became angry and David fell out of favor. He seemed to spiral further with his son Absalom turning against him.
The struggle of David was real – fighting his son for power. When Absalom was defeated, we see David turn against his supporters. Joab, his servant, witnesses David’s self-loathing going as far as to say in II Samuel 19:6 “you seem to love those who hate you and hate those who love you.”. The statement is staggering. Sometimes we self-sabotage and induce suffering in ourselves. We try to please those who either do not support us or who do not know us (think social media followers) and those who love and support us we do not value. God who loves us, we do not value his love.
David did the same at the end of his reign, he would become moody as illustrated in II Samuel 19:19-23 when he brings back to the fold those who are against him and rejects those who were for him.
We see the new Hope arriving in the form of David’s son, Solomon.
Solomon is the new Hope for the nation: trusting in God and asking humbly for wisdom. Solomon is the next chapter in the story, David’s story had ended.
We, unlike David, have a new chapter in which to write in our stories. We are not done yet. We can bring back the hope of Solomon asking for wisdom in guidance from the Lord, writing a new chapter in our lives.
Father God,
Allow me to close my chapter of suffering and start my chapter of hope. Give me the strength to love those who love me instead of trying to prove myself to those who do not. Give me the power to recognize the self-sabotage I bring on myself and instead turn to self-love. Lord, through You I know I can break through suffering and into hope. Grant me the courage to do so.
Amen.
Homework:
What are you hopeful for?
What are you looking forward to? How can you ask God for his guidance and wisdom?
