Lesson 2

A. THE LAW OF MOTION: “Every body will continue in a uniform motion in a straight line, except when an outward force changes it.”

1. Sometimes God sends suffering into our life to cause us to change our direction.

a. Joseph was prepared to save the world. “Ye thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good” (Gen. 50:20).

b. God’s plan. “All things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28).

2. We cannot change, grow or become what God wants us to be without self effort, God sends pressure.

3. We grow best by the experience of troubles, not by knowledge of suffering.

4. We grow best in spurts, not in even progress; God prepares pain.

5. Therefore God allows pain to jump start your growth.

B. THE LAW OF ASSIMILATION: The experiences that are added to our growth will be reflected in our life.

II Cor 3:18, ELT “As we intently look at the glory of God in a mirror, we become like the image we see, and we are slowly transformed to be like God, one step at a time.”

1. All people are mirrors. We reflect the things we experience and when successfully incorporated into our life, become the window how we view the world. Suffering makes us look at the world differently.

2. That which we receive becomes a part of us, and we reflect it to others.

3. We have little sense of God’s presence until faced with an epic need.

FALSE THINKING OF MANY CHRISTIANS

a. We don’t suffer like sinners.

b. We are loved by God, so we are exempt.

c. We are led by God, so He guides us around problems.

4. Calamities push us toward change, and when successfully endured, become the guide that helps us understand our world and our God.

5. Is it true, we never learn anything without pain?

a. Truth comes by the negative, so we must learn to submit and obey.

b. We experience inner brokenness, with outer pain.

c. New truth about ourselves is discovered when our earthly dreams are shattered.

6. You will stay in infancy if God doesn’t do something to cause you to grow. “Answer me when I call, O God . . . in pressure You enlarged me . . . hear my prayers” (Ps. 4:1, ELT).

7. When Augustine lost his mother, he prayed, “The house of my soul is narrow – O enlarge it, that Thou mayest enter in.”

8. We are not called to enjoy pain, but to endure it and learn from it.

C. THE LAW OF INFLUENCE: We become like those we habitually admire and spend our time with.

1. No man is an island, and no man is a vacuum. We are the result of other people who influence us.

2. We carry the strengths of those who influence us most, or we carry their weaknesses.

3. The greater the influence (in time, experience, need fulfillment, etc.) the greater it changes our life.

4. People become their wounds. Some people become weaker through pain, and as a damaged person, they damage others. Some people become stronger and grow strength in others.

D. WHAT TO LEARN FROM JOB

1. Life is hard, and calamities happen over which we have no control.

2. The analysis and criticism of Job’s counselors didn’t help.

3. Job couldn’t help himself, even by being honest, help came from God.

4. People see things from their perspective, not from God’s plan for their life. Job’s comforters didn’t help him at all.

5. God is the potter who is molding us, we are only clay; we don’t tell God what to make of us.

6. Our minds and spirits are like a computer hard drive that contains the ideas, impressions, and a wealth of memories stored within us, that shape the way we think, feel and react. It contains the good, the bad and the ugly. So in reaction to pain, Job showed anger, complaint, and compassion.

7. Most people can’t help you get through pain, but God can.

8. One of the best ways to deal with suffering is to minister to other people.

If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.