![]() ![]() Help me to have eyes to see those around me who need encouragement and support today.Īre you in need of some reminders of God’s faithfulness right now? If so, is there someone you can authentically share your fears with and ask for reminders of God’s presence and power? Take a moment right now to call or text a trusted mentor or friend and set up a time to get together this week to share vulnerably. Help me to remember I am not alone in following You. Give me the boldness to ask for help when I need it. Rather than be skeptical of one another, let us be supportive of our sisters and brothers in Christ.ĭear Lord, thank you for the gift of believers who have been supportive throughout my journey of faith. Elijah and Obadiah had served Yahweh through a long season of standing alone, and God brought them together to remind them of the greater community of followers. One of the secrets to spiritual stamina is looking for the good in others and offering them specific encouragement. When we see someone struggling with their calling or their circumstances, we should affirm the gifts we see in them. ![]() ![]() One day Obadiah met Elijah who would have been the equivalent of a Christian celebrity. He hid 100 prophets of God in caves when Jezebel was trying to kill all prophets of God. He worked for them, but he was a secret follower of Yahweh. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel put Obadiah in an awkward position. While Elijah was hiding from the evil King Ahab, Obadiah was working for him as his right hand man. It was during a season of drought in Israel that the prophet Elijah had pronounced. In 1 Kings 18 we find a man named Obadiah who needed encouragement. So instead of stuffing our doubts, we can express them when we are with fellow followers of Jesus who can come alongside us with support. It means admitting that we can’t manage our thoughts, feelings, and actions without help. However, God has wired us to depend on each other, and sometimes we have to ask for the encouragement we need. So, at times I stuff my fears and concerns rather than tell others that I need their prayers, help, or words of affirmation. I like to be like the woman in the song who says, “I am woman, hear me roar!” I prefer to be independent and strong rather than weak and needy. Other components for the Bible study, available separately, include a Leader Guide, DVD with six 20-25 minute sessions, and boxed Leader Kit (an all-inclusive box containing one copy of each of the Bible studys components).So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing ( 1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT).Īsking for help isn’t my strong suite. The participant workbook includes five days of lessons for each week, combining study of Scripture with personal reflection, application, and prayer. Only God can fill that ache inside and help us focus on his provision and purpose in the midst of lifes joys and pains. Together we will learn contentment as we discover more of our incredible God who truly is more than enough. By exploring Numbers we can come to identify the reasons for our complaining, learn contentment while being authentic about the difficulties of life, accept short-term hardship in light of the greater good of Gods ultimate deliverance, recognize the relationship between complaining and worry, and discover how to realign with Gods character and promises. God sent his only Son to die to buy our freedom from the sin that leads to discontentment, and we find our own promised land of peace and contentment in the life he gives us. The New Testament tells us that their story was written to warn us (1 Corinthians 10:6) so that we would not make the same mistakes and suffer the same consequences. In this study of the Book of Numbers, well find a group of people that wandered in the desert for forty years, unable to enter the Promised Land because of their complaining, grumbling, and lack of faith. Before long complaining and comparing accompany our desire for more, yet were not any closer to filling the ache inside. All around us people are dancing to the steps of bigger, better, and faster, and we can easily join in without even realizing it. Something in us aches for moremore hope, more joy, more freedom. ![]()
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