Summer Read: Week #5
Read this:
Chapter #5 (Enlarge Your Soul Through Grief and Loss)
Discuss or reflect on this:
Grab a journal, some friends, or your spouse and spend a few minutes reflecting on the reading from this week. Use these reflections questions to help you see what the Lord is teaching you and how He might be calling you to go deeper in this particular area.
What stood out to you or challenged you most from the reading this week?
As you were growing up, how did you deal with disappointments or difficult situations?
Think about a more recent loss or difficult situation - look at the following list and identify how you dealt with that situation (e.g. denial, minimization, over-spiritualizing, blaming others or God, blaming yourself, distracting).
Based on your response above, can you identify defenses you tend to use with loss and setbacks? Why might this be the case?
What are some examples of limits that God has placed on you specifically? How have you embraced (or not embraced) those limits in your life?
Looking at the list of limits on ppg.130-132, which do you struggle most to embrace and why?
Pray through this:
As you go throughout your week, spend some time praying through what the Lord is teaching you. Grab a sticky note or your journal and jot down these prayer points and re-visit them throughout the week.
Begin by taking 2 minutes to be silent before the Lord. Embrace the difficulty of being completely silent and learn to listen to the Lord before speaking to Him.
Is there a specific situation right now that is causing you to experience grief and loss? Bring that situation - in its entirety - to the Lord. Don’t make excuses or try to minimize your feelings before the Lord. Bring it all before Him.
Are there areas of grief and loss from your past that you have never fully acknowledged or brought to Jesus? If so, take time this week to pray into those (maybe even with a spouse or friend) and ask the Father to bring healing where there are still wounds.
Use the “Ladder of Humility” (found on pg.134) and go through each step - using them as prayer points. Ask the Father to grow you in each of these areas as you pay attention to what God is doing in your life through grief, loss, and limitation.