The Gift of Darkness
Copyright: South Bay Community Church
Sermon Videos
Sermon Preamble
In this message, we are exploring healing through the gift of darkness. God wants to heal each of us. We respond to this truth with a variety of feelings: (1) For some, God’s healing is your lived experience; you have a testimony and unequivocally declare that God wants to heal you. (2) For others, healing by God represents a lifeline of hope; you are waiting for it to manifest in your life or the life of a loved one. You may be struggling with anxiety and worry, but you are holding on as best you can to the truth that God heals. (3) There are those who are feeling weary and uncertain; you have been praying, but nothing has changed. Indeed, things may feel like they are getting worse, and you are tired and trying to keep your faith. (4) There may be some who are trying not to be bitter or cynical; you feel disappointed, betrayed, and even a little angry with God. You have prayed and are waiting for a physical healing that has not come, and that hurts. What we may need is not a physical healing, but something deeper in our souls. In that healing, God is doing something that we don’t recognize at first. Even though it may not be something we want, it is something we actually need given by God.
We are not immune to physical challenges
We may be faced with a physical challenge from birth. Our physical challenge may arise from an accident or an injury, from an illness or disease, or from aging. Any one of these can translate into a physical disability.
Since we live in a broken world, none of us are immune to physical challenges. At some point, we will all have to deal with a physical challenge personally, or the physical challenge of a loved one. We are specifically exploring physical challenges, but this message also applies to intellectual challenges. If you have not faced a physical or intellectual challenge already, you will. We live in a broken world, and our bodies were not meant to live forever. Broken realities are the result of a broken world.
The seed we planted illustrates our need for a healing touch due to darkness in our environment
Just as this seed planted in darkness last week, it stands as a symbol of how we need a healing touch in our environment. The seedling needs a healing touch because its world, like our world, is not perfect. This seed that started in darkness needs adjustments to its environment.
Many times, similar to this seed, physical challenges plunge us back into darkness. We are in unchartered water. We are not sure how to navigate. Our pain and suffering are real. We are looking for God’s healing touch to restore us and care for us in our moment of need. Things can get extra hard when God’s care and healing touch seem to elude us. What if we need something more than physical healing from God in the midst of our darkness?
Unpacking gifts of darkness to give us a broader reality for a larger purpose
In the message last week, we unpacked gifts in darkness. Such gifts include (1) becoming more like Christ, (2) deepening trust in God, (3) deepening prayer life, (4) recognition of blessings, (5) decluttering and reprioritizing, (6) learning to listen to God’s voice, (7) increasing empathy and sensitivity, (8) gaining experience and wisdom, and (9) experiencing God’s presence. These are all valuable gifts, even in darkness.
What if there is an even broader reality? We consider physical challenges and disabilities as a dark season in our lives. What if God’s plan uses physical challenges and disabilities for a larger purpose? What if those challenges are a special gift for the glory of God?
The darkness of a physical challenge; God wishes to share the greater gift and purpose
We recently completed the Chosen sermon series. We are viewing a video clip from The Chosen, Season 3. Jesus is sending the disciples out to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. To demonstrate Jesus’ authority, they heal the sick. In the story, the disciple known as little James is hurting because he is disabled. Jesus has not healed James.
Let’s view the video clip from an episode of The Chosen, Season 3.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BmujA6pgqpDDpTQ4rhW1NPkrHmtrTnH5/view?usp=drive_web
Perhaps in the darkness of affliction and suffering the questions becomes: “God, how do you want to use me and use this affliction for your glory?” What is the gift you are entrusting to me that you would have me share with others?
Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth these words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). In the darkness of physical challenges, there can be suffering and pain that Jesus does not heal. Through it all, Jesus is present with you, and Jesus seeks to give you comforts.
Jesus knows personally what suffering and pain are like. He felt every lash of the whip. He felt every puncture of the crown of thorns. He felt every nail through His flesh. He is uniquely present with you to comfort you. Through His grace, Jesus strengthens you to endure with patience and perseverance. This patience and perseverance are given by Jesus, beyond what you could muster on your own.
You may recall that Paul speaks about a thorn in his flesh. There was an affliction that Paul asked God three times to remove it. It is uncertain exactly what that affliction was. It caused Paul to suffer. Most scholars believe it was a physical or an intellectual challenge. Paul writes, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
God’s ways and purposes are higher than our ways. Why God heals or doesn’t heal is unknown. God’s plans will be accomplished.
God is stronger than our challenges in darkness
Whatever challenge you may be going through, God is still stronger. God trusts you for the greater purpose of God’s plan. God’s comfort does not remove the real pain and suffering. God is present and comfortable in the darkness, but still the road in the darkness can be hard. We have good days and bad days. Ongoing challenges include all kinds of mental states, mood realities, and physical challenges.
Whatever, physical challenge you may be going through, God is with you to comfort you, to encourage you and to strengthen you. God has a plan for you, and God’s plan is bigger than you and your plan.
The story of Joni Erickson Tada: physical challenges with suffering lead to treasures in darkness
You may have heard of a woman named Joni Erickson Tada. She was an active and outdoorsy teenager. In 1967 at the age of 17, she became paralyzed from the shoulders to her feet from a diving accident. In her autobiography, she wrote about how she prayed and fully believed that God would physically heal her. In an interview, she said, “I certainly believed. I was calling up my girlfriends saying, ‘Next time you see me I’m going to be running up your sidewalk. God is going to heal me’” (Interview with Marvin Olasky, January 17, 2013).
During her two years of rehabilitation, she experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. However, during occupational therapy, she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth and began selling her artwork. In the decades that followed, she started “Joni and Friends,” an international organization to accelerate Christian ministry to the disability community. She has written several books and articles. She starred in a film about her life story, and she was an Oscar nominee for an original song that she sang.
In a post a few years ago, Joni notes, “God may remove your suffering, and that will be a great cause for praise. But if not, God will use it….So let God mold you and make you, transform you from glory to glory. That is the deeper healing.” The journey on such dark paths is definitely not easy, but it is worth it.
Let us view the Video Clip of Joni from an interview earlier this year.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16bkvE0Ictj_t5rlemBjDLvgXgdqab9SU/view
The challenges of a physical disability of Mephibosheth in the Old Testament
Let us view the Video Clip of Loretta Brantley as she shares the Old Testament story of the physical disabilities of Mephibosheth and her own story from her life experiences. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X7mkPrVL5hj4E-2FM07JoceaBpLcVzO7/view
Following is an abbreviated summary of the Old Testament account. Mephibosheth was the grandson of King Saul. In a battle, King Saul and Jonathan were killed. David, an adversary of King Saul, but a friend of King Saul’s son, Jonathan, became the next king. When a new king takes over, they usually kill the royal family so there is no conflict later on. The nurse of Mephibosheth took him and fled. While trying to escape, the nurse and Mephibosheth fell, and he became crippled in both feet. King David remembered his promise to Jonathan that David show God’s kindness to the family of Saul. David restored Mephibosheth to the King’s Palace. People with disabilities were viewed as unworthy in society: King David’s servant, Ziba, bars Mephibosheth, who was physically disabled, from accompanying David on a trip (2 Samuel 19:24-28).
God has a plan to restore God’s people. “In that day’, declares the Lord, ‘I will gather the lame, I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought grief. I will make the lame a remnant, and those driven away a strong nation…” (Micah 4:6-7). God did not want the blind and the lame left behind. God wanted them restored, showing God’s concern for them.
Loretta Brantley sharing her own story of physical disabilities and starting a disability ministry
Here is an abbreviated summary of Loretta’s story: Like Mephibosheth, Loretta also has physically challenging disabilities. As she looked back on her life, she asked herself if she totally believed that God would take care of all her needs, or was she depending on self? Loretta is an above and below the knee amputee and breast cancer survivor. On different occasions, Loretta suffered darkness physically, spiritually, and mentally. In January 2022, severe pain forced her to go to hospital emergency. Within one week, she underwent an emergency blood transfusion and a left leg amputation. Loretta cried out to God. God reminded her how the people of God rallied around her with prayers, cards, food, flowers, and plants and visited with her for hours. People with disabilities are often mistreated and isolated in our world. If we have been transformed with the heart of God, we will welcome, embrace, and include people affected by disability and injury. The Lord has led Loretta to lead a new disability ministry at South Bay Community Church.
God wants to heal us, and we are called to be a healing community, including the deeper healing
Recall from above what Joni said about the deeper healing. Physical challenges are real. Good days and bad days are real. Support needs are real.
Could it be that sometimes, the need for healing is not a physical or intellectual challenge? Rather, the healing need is deeper in our souls, characterized by the need to heal anger, bitterness, disappointment, and self-pity. We grieve the loss of health and resulting challenges. This dark place may put us in a place where we cannot see God. Also we may not want to see God.
For God to heal us in that dark space, we may need to have a prayerful conversation with God, so that God can remind us that if we are alive, God is not done with us. We are still called to bear the image of God as God created us. God has a purpose and plan, even with our physical challenges. Even in the dark seasons of our lives, we are more than broken or damaged goods.
As God heals the hurts, God reminds us that God trusts us with God’s plan. God’s plan is bigger than us. God can use every situation, condition, or challenge for God’s purpose. We walk in God’s strength; God’s grace is sufficient. Transformed on the inside, we care for those God cares about, including persons who are physically or intellectually disabled, vulnerable, and marginalized.
As Loretta Brantley plants a new ministry as part of her calling from God, let’s support her, pray for her, and learn all we can to ensure that we are caring and serving all of God’s family.
Two resources to help us grow as a healing community alongside those now in darkness
One resource is a book, Help a Friend Series – on Disabilities. It is a quick reference guide on what to do, what to say, how to help, and how to walk alongside a person with a disability.
Another resource is the Beyond Suffering Bible. It is a topical study bible for those who suffer and those who care for them. It has great articles, reading plans, and words of encouragement to experience the gift of God’s light in the darkness.
God heals you, but God’s healing may not come the way we expect or want
Of course, we should pray for complete physical and intellectual healing. God is definitely able.
We should provide healing care and support for one another every chance we get. Sometimes, we are the healing agents God wants to send to others. So be encouraged to let people know what you need.
In our prayers for physical and mental healing, we need to be open to transformation on the inside according to God’s will and God’s ways. There may be a bigger purpose and plan to the physical challenges we face. A physical disability may be a special gift in the darkness that God has for you and for others through you. Let’s not miss it.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FOR USE IN FAMILY GROUP
Sermon Preamble
- With your feelings, how have you reacted to the truth that God wants to heal you?
We are not immune to physical challenges
-What physical challenges have you or a loved one had to face?
The seed we planted illustrates our need for a healing touch due to darkness in our environment
-In what ways have you felt the care and healing touch of God as you face physical or intellectual challenges in darkness?
Unpacking gifts of darkness to give us a broader reality for a larger purpose
-As you consider gifts from God unpacked in the darkness, in what ways has God used physical challenges or disabilities for a larger purpose, such as to glorify God?
The darkness of a physical challenge; God wishes to share the greater gift and purpose
-In what circumstances of pain and suffering, do you share in the suffering of Jesus? In what ways do you ask God to use you and use an affliction for the glory of God? In those circumstances, what is the gift God is entrusting to you that God wants you to share with others?
God is stronger than our challenges in darkness
-What spiritual practices help us realize that God is stronger than any physical challenge, and God entrusts us to partner with God for the greater purpose of God’s Will and God’s Way?
The story of Joni Erickson Tada: physical challenges with suffering lead to treasures in darkness
-What aspect of the physical challenges with suffering, but then utilizing her gifts from God most resonate with you for application to you or a loved one?
The challenges of a physical disability of Mephibosheth in the Old Testament
-How did God correct the tendency, in the days of Mephibosheth, to consider people with crippling disabilities as worthless liabilities and not contributing to society? Why?
Loretta Brantley sharing her own story of physical disabilities and starting a disability ministry
-In what ways do people with disabilities need you and also you need them?
God wants to heal us, and we are called to be a healing community, including the deeper healing
-As our church is called to be a healing community, in what ways can we see God in the treasure of deeper healing in our souls transforming us in the image of God?
Two resources to help us grow as a healing community alongside those now in darkness
-In what ways might the books mentioned help you be part of a healing community alongside those in darkness?
God heals you, but God’s healing may not come the way we expect or want
-In our prayers for complete physical healing in recognizing that God is able, in what ways can we be open to God’s Will and God’s Way for a bigger purpose? Why?
In this message, we are exploring healing through the gift of darkness. God wants to heal each of us. We respond to this truth with a variety of feelings: (1) For some, God’s healing is your lived experience; you have a testimony and unequivocally declare that God wants to heal you. (2) For others, healing by God represents a lifeline of hope; you are waiting for it to manifest in your life or the life of a loved one. You may be struggling with anxiety and worry, but you are holding on as best you can to the truth that God heals. (3) There are those who are feeling weary and uncertain; you have been praying, but nothing has changed. Indeed, things may feel like they are getting worse, and you are tired and trying to keep your faith. (4) There may be some who are trying not to be bitter or cynical; you feel disappointed, betrayed, and even a little angry with God. You have prayed and are waiting for a physical healing that has not come, and that hurts. What we may need is not a physical healing, but something deeper in our souls. In that healing, God is doing something that we don’t recognize at first. Even though it may not be something we want, it is something we actually need given by God.
We are not immune to physical challenges
We may be faced with a physical challenge from birth. Our physical challenge may arise from an accident or an injury, from an illness or disease, or from aging. Any one of these can translate into a physical disability.
Since we live in a broken world, none of us are immune to physical challenges. At some point, we will all have to deal with a physical challenge personally, or the physical challenge of a loved one. We are specifically exploring physical challenges, but this message also applies to intellectual challenges. If you have not faced a physical or intellectual challenge already, you will. We live in a broken world, and our bodies were not meant to live forever. Broken realities are the result of a broken world.
The seed we planted illustrates our need for a healing touch due to darkness in our environment
Just as this seed planted in darkness last week, it stands as a symbol of how we need a healing touch in our environment. The seedling needs a healing touch because its world, like our world, is not perfect. This seed that started in darkness needs adjustments to its environment.
Many times, similar to this seed, physical challenges plunge us back into darkness. We are in unchartered water. We are not sure how to navigate. Our pain and suffering are real. We are looking for God’s healing touch to restore us and care for us in our moment of need. Things can get extra hard when God’s care and healing touch seem to elude us. What if we need something more than physical healing from God in the midst of our darkness?
Unpacking gifts of darkness to give us a broader reality for a larger purpose
In the message last week, we unpacked gifts in darkness. Such gifts include (1) becoming more like Christ, (2) deepening trust in God, (3) deepening prayer life, (4) recognition of blessings, (5) decluttering and reprioritizing, (6) learning to listen to God’s voice, (7) increasing empathy and sensitivity, (8) gaining experience and wisdom, and (9) experiencing God’s presence. These are all valuable gifts, even in darkness.
What if there is an even broader reality? We consider physical challenges and disabilities as a dark season in our lives. What if God’s plan uses physical challenges and disabilities for a larger purpose? What if those challenges are a special gift for the glory of God?
The darkness of a physical challenge; God wishes to share the greater gift and purpose
We recently completed the Chosen sermon series. We are viewing a video clip from The Chosen, Season 3. Jesus is sending the disciples out to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God. To demonstrate Jesus’ authority, they heal the sick. In the story, the disciple known as little James is hurting because he is disabled. Jesus has not healed James.
Let’s view the video clip from an episode of The Chosen, Season 3.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BmujA6pgqpDDpTQ4rhW1NPkrHmtrTnH5/view?usp=drive_web
Perhaps in the darkness of affliction and suffering the questions becomes: “God, how do you want to use me and use this affliction for your glory?” What is the gift you are entrusting to me that you would have me share with others?
Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth these words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). In the darkness of physical challenges, there can be suffering and pain that Jesus does not heal. Through it all, Jesus is present with you, and Jesus seeks to give you comforts.
Jesus knows personally what suffering and pain are like. He felt every lash of the whip. He felt every puncture of the crown of thorns. He felt every nail through His flesh. He is uniquely present with you to comfort you. Through His grace, Jesus strengthens you to endure with patience and perseverance. This patience and perseverance are given by Jesus, beyond what you could muster on your own.
You may recall that Paul speaks about a thorn in his flesh. There was an affliction that Paul asked God three times to remove it. It is uncertain exactly what that affliction was. It caused Paul to suffer. Most scholars believe it was a physical or an intellectual challenge. Paul writes, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
God’s ways and purposes are higher than our ways. Why God heals or doesn’t heal is unknown. God’s plans will be accomplished.
God is stronger than our challenges in darkness
Whatever challenge you may be going through, God is still stronger. God trusts you for the greater purpose of God’s plan. God’s comfort does not remove the real pain and suffering. God is present and comfortable in the darkness, but still the road in the darkness can be hard. We have good days and bad days. Ongoing challenges include all kinds of mental states, mood realities, and physical challenges.
Whatever, physical challenge you may be going through, God is with you to comfort you, to encourage you and to strengthen you. God has a plan for you, and God’s plan is bigger than you and your plan.
The story of Joni Erickson Tada: physical challenges with suffering lead to treasures in darkness
You may have heard of a woman named Joni Erickson Tada. She was an active and outdoorsy teenager. In 1967 at the age of 17, she became paralyzed from the shoulders to her feet from a diving accident. In her autobiography, she wrote about how she prayed and fully believed that God would physically heal her. In an interview, she said, “I certainly believed. I was calling up my girlfriends saying, ‘Next time you see me I’m going to be running up your sidewalk. God is going to heal me’” (Interview with Marvin Olasky, January 17, 2013).
During her two years of rehabilitation, she experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. However, during occupational therapy, she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth and began selling her artwork. In the decades that followed, she started “Joni and Friends,” an international organization to accelerate Christian ministry to the disability community. She has written several books and articles. She starred in a film about her life story, and she was an Oscar nominee for an original song that she sang.
In a post a few years ago, Joni notes, “God may remove your suffering, and that will be a great cause for praise. But if not, God will use it….So let God mold you and make you, transform you from glory to glory. That is the deeper healing.” The journey on such dark paths is definitely not easy, but it is worth it.
Let us view the Video Clip of Joni from an interview earlier this year.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16bkvE0Ictj_t5rlemBjDLvgXgdqab9SU/view
The challenges of a physical disability of Mephibosheth in the Old Testament
Let us view the Video Clip of Loretta Brantley as she shares the Old Testament story of the physical disabilities of Mephibosheth and her own story from her life experiences. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X7mkPrVL5hj4E-2FM07JoceaBpLcVzO7/view
Following is an abbreviated summary of the Old Testament account. Mephibosheth was the grandson of King Saul. In a battle, King Saul and Jonathan were killed. David, an adversary of King Saul, but a friend of King Saul’s son, Jonathan, became the next king. When a new king takes over, they usually kill the royal family so there is no conflict later on. The nurse of Mephibosheth took him and fled. While trying to escape, the nurse and Mephibosheth fell, and he became crippled in both feet. King David remembered his promise to Jonathan that David show God’s kindness to the family of Saul. David restored Mephibosheth to the King’s Palace. People with disabilities were viewed as unworthy in society: King David’s servant, Ziba, bars Mephibosheth, who was physically disabled, from accompanying David on a trip (2 Samuel 19:24-28).
God has a plan to restore God’s people. “In that day’, declares the Lord, ‘I will gather the lame, I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought grief. I will make the lame a remnant, and those driven away a strong nation…” (Micah 4:6-7). God did not want the blind and the lame left behind. God wanted them restored, showing God’s concern for them.
Loretta Brantley sharing her own story of physical disabilities and starting a disability ministry
Here is an abbreviated summary of Loretta’s story: Like Mephibosheth, Loretta also has physically challenging disabilities. As she looked back on her life, she asked herself if she totally believed that God would take care of all her needs, or was she depending on self? Loretta is an above and below the knee amputee and breast cancer survivor. On different occasions, Loretta suffered darkness physically, spiritually, and mentally. In January 2022, severe pain forced her to go to hospital emergency. Within one week, she underwent an emergency blood transfusion and a left leg amputation. Loretta cried out to God. God reminded her how the people of God rallied around her with prayers, cards, food, flowers, and plants and visited with her for hours. People with disabilities are often mistreated and isolated in our world. If we have been transformed with the heart of God, we will welcome, embrace, and include people affected by disability and injury. The Lord has led Loretta to lead a new disability ministry at South Bay Community Church.
God wants to heal us, and we are called to be a healing community, including the deeper healing
Recall from above what Joni said about the deeper healing. Physical challenges are real. Good days and bad days are real. Support needs are real.
Could it be that sometimes, the need for healing is not a physical or intellectual challenge? Rather, the healing need is deeper in our souls, characterized by the need to heal anger, bitterness, disappointment, and self-pity. We grieve the loss of health and resulting challenges. This dark place may put us in a place where we cannot see God. Also we may not want to see God.
For God to heal us in that dark space, we may need to have a prayerful conversation with God, so that God can remind us that if we are alive, God is not done with us. We are still called to bear the image of God as God created us. God has a purpose and plan, even with our physical challenges. Even in the dark seasons of our lives, we are more than broken or damaged goods.
As God heals the hurts, God reminds us that God trusts us with God’s plan. God’s plan is bigger than us. God can use every situation, condition, or challenge for God’s purpose. We walk in God’s strength; God’s grace is sufficient. Transformed on the inside, we care for those God cares about, including persons who are physically or intellectually disabled, vulnerable, and marginalized.
As Loretta Brantley plants a new ministry as part of her calling from God, let’s support her, pray for her, and learn all we can to ensure that we are caring and serving all of God’s family.
Two resources to help us grow as a healing community alongside those now in darkness
One resource is a book, Help a Friend Series – on Disabilities. It is a quick reference guide on what to do, what to say, how to help, and how to walk alongside a person with a disability.
Another resource is the Beyond Suffering Bible. It is a topical study bible for those who suffer and those who care for them. It has great articles, reading plans, and words of encouragement to experience the gift of God’s light in the darkness.
God heals you, but God’s healing may not come the way we expect or want
Of course, we should pray for complete physical and intellectual healing. God is definitely able.
We should provide healing care and support for one another every chance we get. Sometimes, we are the healing agents God wants to send to others. So be encouraged to let people know what you need.
In our prayers for physical and mental healing, we need to be open to transformation on the inside according to God’s will and God’s ways. There may be a bigger purpose and plan to the physical challenges we face. A physical disability may be a special gift in the darkness that God has for you and for others through you. Let’s not miss it.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS INCLUDING FOR USE IN FAMILY GROUP
Sermon Preamble
- With your feelings, how have you reacted to the truth that God wants to heal you?
We are not immune to physical challenges
-What physical challenges have you or a loved one had to face?
The seed we planted illustrates our need for a healing touch due to darkness in our environment
-In what ways have you felt the care and healing touch of God as you face physical or intellectual challenges in darkness?
Unpacking gifts of darkness to give us a broader reality for a larger purpose
-As you consider gifts from God unpacked in the darkness, in what ways has God used physical challenges or disabilities for a larger purpose, such as to glorify God?
The darkness of a physical challenge; God wishes to share the greater gift and purpose
-In what circumstances of pain and suffering, do you share in the suffering of Jesus? In what ways do you ask God to use you and use an affliction for the glory of God? In those circumstances, what is the gift God is entrusting to you that God wants you to share with others?
God is stronger than our challenges in darkness
-What spiritual practices help us realize that God is stronger than any physical challenge, and God entrusts us to partner with God for the greater purpose of God’s Will and God’s Way?
The story of Joni Erickson Tada: physical challenges with suffering lead to treasures in darkness
-What aspect of the physical challenges with suffering, but then utilizing her gifts from God most resonate with you for application to you or a loved one?
The challenges of a physical disability of Mephibosheth in the Old Testament
-How did God correct the tendency, in the days of Mephibosheth, to consider people with crippling disabilities as worthless liabilities and not contributing to society? Why?
Loretta Brantley sharing her own story of physical disabilities and starting a disability ministry
-In what ways do people with disabilities need you and also you need them?
God wants to heal us, and we are called to be a healing community, including the deeper healing
-As our church is called to be a healing community, in what ways can we see God in the treasure of deeper healing in our souls transforming us in the image of God?
Two resources to help us grow as a healing community alongside those now in darkness
-In what ways might the books mentioned help you be part of a healing community alongside those in darkness?
God heals you, but God’s healing may not come the way we expect or want
-In our prayers for complete physical healing in recognizing that God is able, in what ways can we be open to God’s Will and God’s Way for a bigger purpose? Why?
Posted in The Gift of Darkness
Posted in heal, physical healing, dark, environment, challenge, greater gift, purpose, 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, suffering, pain, thorn, comfort, Joni Erickson Tada, Mephibosheth, healing community, transform
Posted in heal, physical healing, dark, environment, challenge, greater gift, purpose, 2 Corinthians 12: 8-10, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, suffering, pain, thorn, comfort, Joni Erickson Tada, Mephibosheth, healing community, transform
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June
July
Courageous Conversations - By the BookCourageous Conversations: Racial Reconciliation (Lite)Courageous Conversations - Racial Reconciliation- ExpandedCourageous Conversations - Dear God, Are you Pro-life or Pro-choice? (Expanded)Courageous Conversations - Love Comes First (Expanded)Courageous Conversations: Love Comes First (Lite)
September
October
November
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