Discuss Together
- Have you ever had high expectations for a restaurant, product, or place (perhaps because people were hyping it up to you) but the actual experience was a letdown? Share about it with the group.
- Haddon Robinson said, “Disillusionment is the child of illusion. If we live with illusions about how God should work in our lives, we can suffer twice. We can suffer the arrows and stones that life throws at us in addition to feeling the heat of a badly wounded faith.” Do you agree with what Haddon says? How have you found this to be true?
- Read Exodus 15:22-27. What is happening to the people of Israel in this passage? How do they react to their circumstances? What is God up to?
- Can you relate to what the people went through? Has there been a time where it felt like you were drinking a cup of bitterness, wondering what God was up to in all of it?
- In this passage we read how God was putting Israel to the test. What does it mean for God to test us? Do you think this is fair or unfair? Discuss as a group.
- How have you experienced God deepening your faith through difficulty?
- Where are you experiencing difficulty right now? What does it look like for you to be obedient and faithful in your situation?
Next Steps
Take a moment to open the Chase Oaks App to pray. Post a prayer about a difficulty in which you could use God’s healing presence, and then take time to pray for someone else’s prayer request.