It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst

Week 3: Chapter 2 — Why Would God Allow This?

Read Chapter 2 of It's Not Supposed to Be This Way. Key passages: Job 1–2; Romans 8:28.

This chapter wrestles with the question that sits underneath most of our disappointment: if God is good and God is powerful, why does He allow things that hurt this much? Come to these questions willing to ask the hard thing out loud.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1."Why would God allow this?" is possibly the most common question people ask in pain. Have you ever asked it? If so, what were the circumstances — and did you ever feel like you received a satisfying answer?

2.Lysa is careful not to offer simplistic answers to this question. What is the difference between an answer that satisfies intellectually and one that actually sustains a person through suffering? Which do you need more right now?

3.She explores the tension between God's sovereignty (He is in control) and human pain (this hurts and seems wrong). Some people resolve the tension by emphasizing one at the expense of the other — either "God is in control so this must be fine" or "this hurts so God must not care." What is the cost of each extreme?

a.Where do you tend to land when you are hurting — sovereignty or skepticism?

b.What would it look like to hold both truths simultaneously?

4.Lysa points out that God does not always prevent hard things from happening, even to people who love Him faithfully. How does the story of Job inform (or complicate) your understanding of why God allows suffering?

5.She makes the argument that trusting God's goodness does not require having an explanation for every painful event. Does that feel like freedom or like a cop-out to you? What would genuine trust look like in your current situation?

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Closing Prayer

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God, we will be honest: sometimes we don't understand You, and that frightens us. We have asked "why" and heard silence. Forgive us for the times we have used Your silence as evidence against Your goodness. Thank You that You are not threatened by our questions. Help us to bring our "why" to You rather than letting it pull us away from You. We choose to trust what we know of Your character even when we cannot trace Your hand. Amen.

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