A gift we can give ourselves is the ability to be ourselves in the midst of grief. To not pretend that we have it all together. To not put a timetable on our grief, but to know that God heals in God’s time, and that’s okay. To know that as you are moving through the grief process, there are people who know you and support you every step of the way.
John 21:3-17 “Life in Crisis”
1. What are some of your thoughts or reflections from the video and chapter 5 of the Soul Reset book?
2. Pastor Dotson writes about his “year of grief” in chapter 5 of Soul Reset and makes some parallels to the story of Job. What parallels do you see between the story of Job and Pastor Dotson’s year of grief?
3. Turn together to the book of Job. Look at the headings (for example: “Job’s Three Friends”) as you scan from the beginning to the end of this book of the Bible. What do these headings tell you about Job’s losses and his faith journey?
4. How do you handle it when unexpected storms come into your life? when you experience unbelievable loss?
5. Would you say that we do a good job of walking through grief individually and as a community? What would you say is the “right” way to walk through grief individually? in community?
6. What do we do when the grief just keeps on coming? Where is God in suffering? How do we maintain faith in the face of the problems and contradictions that the world produces for our faith?
7. “To live an abundant life doesn’t mean we won’t face trouble or storms, or that everything will always be good times, safety, health, and wealth. It just means we have the capacity to deal with things as they come” (page 82). How can you live an abundant life even when you carry grief in your heart?
8. “Job’s response to his suffering was to worship. We go to church on Sundays and it’s a ritual: Let’s sing some songs and pray, hear the message, and then go home and eat the roast. That’s not what Job did. His was not an ignoring-my-reality worship. It was raw worship. It was a gut-wrenching laying yourself before God” (page 82). When have you felt led to worship during a season of suffering? Share about that experience.
9. Pastor Dotson says that community, authenticity, and being vulnerable with others are tools to fight for our faith when we face devastation. Why do you think community, authenticity, and vulnerability help us fight to keep our faith?
10. Job’s friends were great, until they weren’t. At first, his friends gathered around him just to be present. There weren’t any words to say, so they just sat with him. Then, when things got worse, they started giving analysis and advice. What do you make of the evolution of Job’s friends’ responses to Job’s situation? Why is it so difficult to know what to say or do when a friend is struggling?
11. “Part of my healing process was learning to be authentic and being open with my story and learning to lead by example in the way of vulnerability,” Pastor Dotson writes (page 87). Would you say that you are open with your stories of trial, despair, or struggle? Why or why not? How does openness with our own struggles deepen the power of community?
Each week of our soul reset experience; we will learn about a spiritual practice that will help us to seek wholeness. This week, we look at the spiritual practice of lament. Lament is a form of prayer that gives space for our deepest groanings before God. As we lament, we name the hurt and the pain of what we experience; we don’t sugarcoat it or pretend like everything is okay. Sometimes we lament our individual circumstances. Sometimes we lament the troubles of the world. We can trust that God stands ready and waiting to hold us in God’s hands as we bring our honest, truest feelings to God.
Right now, on a sheet of paper, write a prayer of lament—maybe over something going on in your life or something happening in the world today. Bring your truest, unfiltered, unedited feelings to God as you grieve and pray for healing.
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