A few weeks ago, I mentioned a small group lesson I was working on, but I never posted it. Here it is. It's written from a leader's perspective to be delivered to others, but you could still probably work through the whole thing yourself.
Opening Questions
·
Would you consider yourself a daredevil? Would
you jump from an airplane? Bungee jump?
o What
if you were told beforehand that the cord was going to break? What if the dude
running the thing said, “This is faulty, and it won’t work. You will plummet to
your death.” Would you still do it?
·
In that situation, you would be desperate for
the worker to tell you, right? You would want
to know that it wasn’t gonna’ work.
What’s the point?
The point, ladies, is that our plans fail. Planning our
lives the way we want is like saying, “Yes, I know the bungee cord is gonna’
break, but I’ll do it anyway.” That might be a little extreme, but do you get the point I’m trying to make? God’s
plan for us will always, always, always come through.
Last week, when I asked, “Do you think God wants to help
you, most of you said, “Yes, but…” or “Yes, however…” All of you say you
believe God is for you, but you always have a rebuttal. Is it because He isn’t “for you” in your timing or in the way you want
Him to be?
Truth is, God is for us. Period. No ifs ands or buts. God
wants good for us.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
·
Do you believe this? Like, do you actually
believer this?
Crazy Biblical example of how God will provide
·
Back Story – This is after Moses led the Israelites
lead then out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea. They are now in the dessert
waiting for God to send them to the Promised Land. Remember, when they were in
Egypt they were slaves. Yes, they had food, but they were slaves.
o Are we
desperate for the right thing? Is our perspective on track?
§
If I were just freed from years of slavery, I
think food would be the last thing on my mind.
·
Clearly, Moses was desperate here. He needed the Lord to help in in this
situation. He was at his wits end with these crazy people.
o Side note
on why God was so angry – these people keep turning from Him.
·
So, not only did God hear Moses, but also He
promised Him even more than He needed.
·
Please note that Moses then rebutted God and basically asked How?
o Did you ever think that God is answering your
prayer, but because it’s not exactly how
you wanted it, you aren’t seeing that He answered it?
·
Then, notice that Moses accepted it, then told
his people.
o Think about
this…God just promised to send the people meat…in the middle of a desert. And,
not just meat for one meal, but meat for a month. How the heck is he gonna’ do
that?
§
Don’t you think that this was the hardest
message/sermon/whatever that Moses had to give to these people? They would
totally think he’s crazy.
o He’s crazy.
How would God do this?
Don’t get where I’m going with this? Hold on. Go with this flow, and let
me show you how awesome God can be.
·
The area the Israelites were in was about 50
miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea – 50 miles southwest of the Dead Sea. Significance?
Quail tend to live by water and they don’t fly long distances. They would not
have made it to the Israelites if it weren’t for a supernatural wind.
o It’s
literally as if the clouds burst open and began to rain quail.
·
When quail get tired, they dive-bomb. No,
seriously, look it up. And, quail aren’t graceful like pretty geese. I picture
the quail as dive-bombing from the sky like hail.
·
The verse says that in some places, quail was
about three feet deep. So, listen to this
o “Based on the Hebrew system of measurement, ‘a
day’s walk’ was approximately fifteen miles in any direction. So if you square
the radius and multiply by pi, we’re talking about an area that was almost 700
square miles. To put that into perspective, Washington, DC, is 68.3 square
miles. Not only was this an area ten times larger than the nation’s capital,
but the quail were piled three feet deep.” Circle
Maker, pg. 53
o It says
that once it stopped falling, the Israelites started gathering and each of the
600,000 gathered no less than 10 homers. The math on that is 6 million homers
at a minimum. With a homer equaling roughly 200 liters that’s somewhere in the
neighborhood of 105 million quail.
o God doesn’t
provide in a dramatic fashion, he provides in dramatic proportion.
·
Do you
think Moses felt foolish now? Do you think he could have anticipated the answer
to this prayer?
Something to Think About
This
miracle has nothing to do with the Israelites – God was answering Moses’
prayer. The Israelites were complaining and going against God all the time.
This miracle proves that God answers prayer. Not only did He free the
Israelites from Egypt, but He then blessed them with things they didn’t even
need, let alone ask for.
“Do you think
that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I
want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. However, if
righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful
things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of
course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for
their sins.”
Ezekiel 18:23-24
Sometimes, we need to quit doing the arithmetic of the situation and
just start believing that He’s going to do it.
When we pray, there are two things I think we face when we pray.
1.
We don’t really know what to pray for. We ask
God for direction, we ask God for peace, we ask God for a soul mate.
a.
God doesn’t answer vague prayers. WHAT? Listen,
sometimes we pray things so generically that we won’t even know it when He
answers it!
b.
Could we be a little more specific? God, show me
whether I should go to Grad school or not. God, give me options in the soul
mate area?
c.
Start asking God as if you truly believe He’s
gonna’ do it. Then, pray as if it’s in
God’s control and work as if it’s in His. Get that? Pray so hard like God
is gonna’ do it, but keep working as if you aren’t gonna’ get a thing.
2.
We stop praying right before He answers.
a.
We think it’s gonna’ happen one way, then we
change our thinking. We get frustrated because it’s not in our timing.
b.
“I’ll put it in God’s hands, then I’m done.”
Well, yes, that means you shouldn’t stress or have anxiety about it, but it
doesn’t mean you can quit praying.
The bottom line I want you girls to see through this lesson is that
you CAN and you SHOULD trust God. He is for you. He wants good things for you.
He’s not gonna’ leave you wanting more…well, more of Him and His presence, but
He’s not gonna’ leave you lacking.
Extra Encouragement
“Trust in the Lord and
do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the
Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:3-4
·
trust – batach
(verb) 1. to trust; to have confidence, be confident; to be bold; to be
secure 2. To feel safe, be careless.
·
delight – ‘anag
(verb) 1. To be soft, be delicate, be dainty. 2. To be of dainty habit, be
pampered; to be happy about, take exquisite delight; to make merry over, make
sport of.
·
desire – mish’alah
(feminine noun) 1. Request, petition, desire
“I waited patiently
for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.” Psalm 40:1
·
wait – qavah
(verb) 1. to wait, look for, hope, expect; to wait or look eagerly for; to lie
in wait for; to wait for; linger for 2. to collect, bind together.
·
cry – shav’ah
(feminine noun) 1. cry for help
“But those who trust
in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah
40:31
·
but those who trust – same word as qavah used above
·
will find new strength – chalaph (verb) 1. To pass on or away, pass by, go through, grow up,
change, to go on from; to pass on quickly, to vanish, to come anew, to sprout
again; to change, to substitute, alter, change for better, renew; to show newness
Challenge for Week/Conclusion of Lesson
·
What do you need from God? Share it with the
group.
·
Memorize one or all of these verses so you
remember that you can trust in God.
·
Daily pray for what it is you are asking God
for.
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