High School Study week 4

4/13/2020

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Think back to some of the times when you have faced a “dark night of the soul,” as Matt described.
While suffering is never enjoyable, one of its benefits is that it shows us when we are following false shepherds. Matt specifically mentioned the “shepherds” of health and wealth. When we place our confidence in our bank accounts, what happens when we come up short one month on our mortgage? Or can’t afford groceries? When we place our confidence in our health, what happens when we get sick? Or find ourselves on the other end of a freak car accident? These are false shepherds and cannot provide for us the way Jesus can.
Reflect on the suffering you have faced in the past or may be facing presently.

How has it revealed to you the ways in which you might have followed false shepherds? Where did you place your confidence? In what ways has this lead to fear?

In verse 4, David proclaims that he will “fear no evil” while facing the valley of the shadow of death. The reason he gives for this is because God is with him.

How does God’s presence remove our fear of evil? In what ways would a deeper focus on God’s presence have changed the way you responded to difficulty in the past?

David shows that not only is God with us, but God comforts us in the midst of trials.

Have you experienced this? Why is God truly the only thing that can comfort us no matter what valley we are facing.

How can God comfort our world in the valley we currently are walking through?

4 Comments

Jacob Felten

4/15/2020 10:08:27 am

Something I find very comforting about God is that He is never changing. Many of my fears during suffering are related to the uncertainty of the outcome. I look for things in life that I can control, but like in some of the examples Matt gave, everything we have on Earth can be taken away. God is above the world though, so while there’s pain in losing things, nothing can shake Him and His plan. If my goal in life is to follow God’s plan, then I never have to feel like circumstances are ruining my life.

There’s a lot to be afraid of right now, but there’s also fears about if the world will be changed from all this. We can take comfort in knowing that God’s plan isn’t contingent on all of our systems and governments working perfectly. But we also need to remember that, that doesn’t mean God is aloof and doesn’t care about our day to day experience. God doesn’t give us trials that are beyond what He knows we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). We can take comfort in His daily blessings along with the promises of a perfect future with Him.

Eric Rossman

4/19/2020 06:30:04 pm

"I look for things in life that I can control, but like in some of the examples Matt gave, everything we have on Earth can be taken away. God is above the world though, so while there’s pain in losing things, nothing can shake Him and His plan. If my goal in life is to follow God’s plan, then I never have to feel like circumstances are ruining my life."

If you think about it, without a God who is in control and for our good, the fact that anything can be ripped away in a moment is terrifying. I love how you describe here the way Jesus causes us to not fear our circumstances. Nothing can ruin our life when our hope is in Christ.

4/19/2020 02:17:32 am

I often find myself going to entertainment, and social media for comfort instead of Jesus. It's so much easier to immerse myself in my phone instead of taking time to talk to God.
But, whenever I find myself in a really hard place, I realize that the only thing that truly brings comfort is Jesus. It's kinda crazy to me that creator of the universe is present with all of us individiually always. In the hardest times of my life He walks with me, and comforts me.
To be honest, this has been hard to believe, especially right now, where everything feels helpless, but I can cling to the reality that Jesus is with me, and will never leave me.

4/19/2020 06:33:21 pm

"But, whenever I find myself in a really hard place, I realize that the only thing that truly brings comfort is Jesus."

It's crazy how the hardest points of our life often end up being the most fulfilling or real or satisfying. Not because we love the difficulty, but the difficulty causes us to see Christ. I am often like you in that during the smaller difficulties I often run to entertainment. This leads to a lack of seeing God work and a lack of satisfaction. The reality is we need not only see Christ in the really difficult times, we can run to and pursue him all the time.

High School Study week 4

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