Just You Wait (part 1): The Beauty of Delay

TO START

How good are you at waiting?

Think back to childhood. How good were you at waiting for your Christmas presents?

As an adult, how good are you at waiting in a long line?
 

TO DISCUSS

We said on Sunday that waiting people aren’t yet where they want to be. Are you a waiting person? Share one or two ways in which you’re waiting to get to a place where you want to be or waiting to have a thing you want to have or waiting to become the person you want to become. What are you waiting for?

Consider the following potential temptations we encounter in waiting:

-Impatience and Complaining

-Bitterness

-Doubt

-Substitution (Idolatry)

  • Which of these temptations are you most prone to?
  • Give an example of a time you gave in to one of these temptations.
  • What’s wrong with giving in to these temptations?

Waiting doesn’t have to be bad. Consider the following potential gifts of waiting:

-Waiting forces dependence

Have you ever experienced that? Share with the group?

-Waiting enables evaluation

Share a time when waiting slowed you down for long enough to reconsider your plan.

-Waiting reminds you the world doesn’t revolve around you.

It’s also possible that waiting could do the opposite. What could we do, practically speaking, to ensure that our waiting doesn’t lead to self obsession, but instead teaches us patience and gives us perspective?

-Waiting enables preparation

Have you ever had something postponed (a test, a meeting at work, etc) and recognized it as an opportunity to be ready? Share.

We said on Sunday that in our season of waiting we should ask:

  • How will I wait?
  • Who will I become along the way?

Consider one of the ways you’re waiting right now and share with your group who you hope to become as you’re waiting.

If you have a story of waiting that blessed you or transformed you, share with your group.
 

TO READ

Read Lamentations 3: 17-26

  • Why does Jeremiah say he will wait for the Lord?
  • What does Jeremiah mean when he says “The Lord is my portion”?
  • How does hope shape our waiting?

 

TO PRAY

Go back to the list you shared earlier in the night, the ways your group members are currently waiting. Pray that God would give each person what they’re waiting for. AND pray that God would use this season of waiting to shape them into His image.

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