Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Week #4
"Journey through the Wall"
Community Group Video and Discussion QuestionsIntroduction
Watch the video segment for Session 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZP-PuKYbNQ&list=PL2JLp4amqPEi8Mu2zYJpCIG4Yfdj46gMr&index=4Starters (15 Minutes)
Read aloud the following excerpt from the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality before answering question 3.
For most of us, the Wall appears through a crisis that turns our world upside down. It comes, perhaps, through a divorce, a job loss, the death of a close friend or family member, a cancer diagnosis, a disillusioning church experience, a betrayal, a shattered dream, a wayward child, a car accident, an inability to get pregnant, a deep desire to marry that remains unfulfilled, a spiritual dryness or a loss of joy in our relationship with God. We question ourselves, God, and the church. We discover for the first time that our faith does not appear to "work." We have more questions than answers as the very foundation of our faith feels like it is on the line. We don't know where God is, what he is doing, where he is going, how he is getting us there, or when this well be over...It (the Wall) is not simply a one-time event that we pass through and get beyond. It appears to be something we return to as part of our going relationship with God.
"Journey through the Wall"
Community Group Video and Discussion QuestionsIntroduction
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality requires that you go through the pain of the Wall-or, as the ancients called it, "the dark night of the soul." Just as a physical wall stops us from moving ahead, God sometimes stops us in our spiritual journey through a spiritual Wall in order to radically transform our character. Often, we are brought to the Wall by circumstances and crises beyond our control. Regardless of how we get there, every follower of Jesus at some point will confront the Wall. Failure to understand and surrender to God's working in us at the Wall often results in great in great long-term pain, ongoing immaturity, and confusion. Receiving the gift of God in the Wall, however, transforms our lives forever.
VIDEO: Journey through the Wall (13 minutes)Watch the video segment for Session 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZP-PuKYbNQ&list=PL2JLp4amqPEi8Mu2zYJpCIG4Yfdj46gMr&index=4Starters (15 Minutes)
Read aloud the following excerpt from the book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality before answering question 3.
For most of us, the Wall appears through a crisis that turns our world upside down. It comes, perhaps, through a divorce, a job loss, the death of a close friend or family member, a cancer diagnosis, a disillusioning church experience, a betrayal, a shattered dream, a wayward child, a car accident, an inability to get pregnant, a deep desire to marry that remains unfulfilled, a spiritual dryness or a loss of joy in our relationship with God. We question ourselves, God, and the church. We discover for the first time that our faith does not appear to "work." We have more questions than answers as the very foundation of our faith feels like it is on the line. We don't know where God is, what he is doing, where he is going, how he is getting us there, or when this well be over...It (the Wall) is not simply a one-time event that we pass through and get beyond. It appears to be something we return to as part of our going relationship with God.
- If you have been through a Wall, briefly share one way it impacted you and your view of God.
Bible Study: Genesis 22:1-14 (35 minutes)
- How would you hear the words in verse 2: "Take your son, your only son, whom you love...sacrifice him"?
- What aspect of "the dark night" might have been tormenting Abraham's soul as he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the alter?
- In light of this story, how is your image (or idea) of God challenged?
- What are some possible reasons you have a hard time accepting and moving through Walls?
- In order to grow in Christ, every believer must go through Walls, or "dark nights of the soul." This is God's way of rewiring and "purging our affections and passions" that we might delight in his love and enter into a richer, fuller communion with him. In this way he frees us from unhealthy attachments and idolatries of the world. How might this larger perspective serve as an encouragement to yo today?
- This Wall gave Abraham a revelation of God that would change him and his relationship with God forever. He came to know God as provider in even the most desperate of situations (v14). How might this encourage you in any current Walls you are facing?
Application (15 minutes)
Take about 5 minutes to complete question 10 on your own.
When God takes us through a Wall, we are changed. The following are four primary characteristics of life found on the other side of the Wall.
Take about 5 minutes to complete question 10 on your own.
When God takes us through a Wall, we are changed. The following are four primary characteristics of life found on the other side of the Wall.
- A greater level of brokenness
- A greater appreciation for holy unknowing (mystery)
- A deeper ability to wait on God
A greater detachment (from the world)
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