Healing Promises

1. Clint and Sara struggled to believe God's promises of protection and healing when life gave them a multitude of reasons to stop hoping. Can you relate? What scriptures do you cling to when life grows dark and painful?2. What about when things don't go the way we prayed? Or when it seems like God hasn't protected and healed? I love the book of Job because Job's example gives us the freedom to ask God why and also to be reminded of the truth that we don't see the big picture God sees. When you read Job 1:812, 38:17, 42:13; 1 Corinthians 13:12; and 1 John 4:16, what thoughts come to mind? How can these verses strengthen our hearts when life hurts?3. In the daily battles we face, internal and external, sometimes it appears that evil is winning. Like Clint and Sara, we're tempted to harden our hearts against hope because we're weary and just want to escape the pain. But what do Psalm 62:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, and 1 John 5:4 say is the foundation of our hope? How do you stay open to hope and to God?4. Think of a time when you've been wounded in the battles of life or prayed for others who have been wounded. What do Psalm 103:15 and Romans 5:35 say about hope, God's healing, and our response to difficult times?5. What provision and promise has God given to each of us in Ephesians 6:1018, 1 Timothy 6:12, and Hebrews 11:1 that will enable us to fight the fight of faith with hope...and win?6. Frank's dying wish was that, for better or for worse, those he loved would hold tight to the truth that God is on His throne and always good. If you've lost a loved one, how did God comfort you? What legacy of hope do you want to leave your loved ones?7. In the face of death, what does it mean to grieve with hope? Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1318. How does Paul tell us to deal with death and encourage one another?8. When you read in Job 1:21 about blessing the name of the Lord when He gives and takes away, what does that stir up in you? If we lived like we believed this verse, how would our actions show it?9. In what ways do we praise God? Are some methods of praise easier for you than others? Why or why not?10. At the end of the story, Sara says she wished she'd believed Frank's words earlier. But her best friend says, "Sometimes we have to walk through the fire before we believe God can be trusted. Experience has a way of pressing head knowledge into our heart." How have you found this to be true in your life?11. John 6:29 says, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." What does this mean to you? What about 1 John 3:23? Is belief something that comes easily to you? Why or why not?12. One huge issue Clint struggled with throughout the book was body image. He hated all the physical and emotional changes cancer thrust upon him. He hated his own weakness. And how he viewed himself affected his faith, his marriage, and his job performance. Even without a major illness, most of us struggle with liking the view in our mirrors. Why do you think that is? And what do Genesis 1:27, 31; Psalm 45:11, 139:14; Zephaniah 3:17; and 2 Corinthians 12:9 have to say about what God thinks when He looks at us, His image-bearers?13. Why do you think it took Sara a long time to stop depending on people and circumstances? Have you ever struggled with that? How did Sara begin to depend on God and what part did praising Him play in that change?14. Sara believed she was a failure when circumstances turned out badly or when she didn't measure up to her expectations. Fear of failure is a common struggle that drives many of us to do better and to try harder instead of depending on the Lord. Take a lookWallace, Amy is the author of 'Healing Promises', published 2008 under ISBN 9781601420107 and ISBN 1601420102.