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

Week 5: Chapter 4 — God Would Not Have Allowed This If It Wasn't Going to Be Used for Good

Read Chapter 4 of It's Not Supposed to Be This Way. Key passages: Genesis 50:20; 2 Corinthians 1:3–5.

There is a phrase well-meaning people say to those who are suffering that can feel either deeply comforting or deeply painful depending on where you are — "God is going to use this." Lysa examines that idea with both honesty and hope.

Discussion Questions

7 questions

1.Has anyone ever said to you, "God is going to use this for good"? In the moment they said it, did it help or hurt — and what made the difference?

2.Lysa is careful to make a distinction: God redeeming something is not the same as God causing it. Why is that distinction so important, both theologically and emotionally?

3.She draws on the story of Joseph — specifically Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." What does Joseph's story tell us about the timeline of God's redemption? What would have been lost if Joseph had demanded an explanation at chapter 37 instead of waiting until chapter 50?

a.Where do you think you are in your own Joseph-story — chapter 37 (betrayal), chapter 39 (false accusation), chapter 40 (waiting), or somewhere else?

b.What does it mean to trust the Author before you can see the ending?

4.Lysa writes about the comfort she has found in 2 Corinthians 1:3–5 — the idea that we are comforted by God so that we can comfort others. Has your pain ever become a source of comfort for someone else? What did that experience teach you about how God redeems suffering?

5.She is honest about the fact that "used for good" does not necessarily mean "fixed" or "resolved." What would it mean for your current pain to be used for good without being removed? Can you hold that possibility?

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Closing Prayer

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