WHY GOD LETS PEOPLE SUFFER

Lesson 13: To Bring About God’s Plan

Proverbs 16: 9 The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps

I.  My life

1.  Neil and me

a.  Dick laid off and job search

b.  Dick died

c.  Neil and me at Coscto

d.  Phone call from the company & my call to UTOS

e.  Costco again

f.  Phone call Dec. 31, 1991

g.  Neil laid off, brought me here

2.  Book

a.  Children at Beth Sar Shalom

b. Casas

c. Manzanita FFA

3.  Fla. property

a. No tenant

b. Hurricane Wilma and Nina and Steve

c.  Neil & Allen

II.  Balance

A. Expressions

1.  To make an omlet, you have to break an egg

2.  No such thing as free lunch

B.  Cost to any gain

1.  Inherit the Wind. airplanes

2.  Cars

a. Benefits: freedom, mobility saves time, status

c. Costs: $, pollution, land for roads, when they break

3.  False perception: Security vs. giving up freedoms

4.  Reality: Choice to what we will be slaves.

JN 8:34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

  RO 6:16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves (That’s choice) to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

III.  God’s plan - Global

A. .  God chose to use Abraham’s descendants to give to the world His Law, the prophecy of the Old Testament, His Son, and the teachings of the New Testaments. (Gen. 12: 13, 18: 18, 26: 4; Rom. 1: 16)  He used Jewish people to spread the gospel to the gentile world (Acts 10: 23-11: 26), even as the Jewish world was becoming blind to the truth of who Jesus was.  (Is. 6: 9-10; Acts 28: 23-28) The gentile world is to spread the gospel to all nations (Matt. 24: 14, 28: 19) and bring it back to the Jews (Romans 11: 11-15), who must rebuild the temple. (2Thes. 2: 3-4)  After the great suffering throughout the world of the Great Tribulation,  (Mark 13: 19) the Lord will return to judge the world (Acts 17: 31).  Those who believe will have everlasting life.  Those who choose not to believe will suffer everlasting contempt and punishment. (Dan. 12: 2; John 3: 36; Rom 2: 5; Rev. 16: 1)

B.  DISCUSSION Q 1READ: Ruth (all 4 chapters)  If you see the outline of God’s plan for the salvation of mankind, state it here.  If you can’t, just think about it.  We will discuss it in class.  

C.  Role of Israel in End Times

               1. READ: Deu. 30:1-10, Neh 1:8-9, Mic. 2:12, Zeph. 3:18-20,

               Zech.10:6-10.

                              a. Why can these prophecies not apply to the church?  

                              b.  What part of these prophecies have already happened?

               2.  Holocaust led to Israel

III.  God’s Plan for Our Lives: Our Choice, to Trust or Not

               A.  Rachel and Leah

                              1.  DISCUSSION Q3.  READ Gen. 29:1-30:3

                                             a.  Describe what happened.

                                             b.  Describe how Leah felt

                                             c.  Describe how Rachel felt

                              2.  What they didn’t know about the future

               B.  Joseph

                              1. DISCUSSION Q 4.  READ: Gen. 37:17-28, 45:4-7.  

                                             a.  Would Joseph have been justified in taking his

                                             revenge? Why/why not?

                                             b.  Why is Joseph not consumed by bitterness as

                                             his mother and aunt were?

               C.  Boy at BSF who wanted to be a marine

               D.  Neil laid off, his reaction vs. others’

               PRAYER