Unit 3 Session 6
God Controls Everything
Family Bible Time Connection
Read all or parts of Job 1—2 from your Bible
Talk About Scripture
If you read or watch the news, you will soon discover that most of the news is bad news. Sometimes all of this bad news can cause us to ask why God would allow so many bad things to happen and so many people to suffer. We are not the first to ask these important questions. When Job lost everything—including his family—this is basically what he asked.
God answered Job, in part, by reminding him that He was all-powerful, always in control, and always good. Although Job couldn’t understand what God was doing, Job wanted to trust in who God is. Through all the suffering, while Job didn’t understand God correctly, he never turned away from Him. In the end, God helped Job understand Him better and He gave Job everything he had lost—and even more.
Romans 5:3-4 tells us that we can rejoice in suffering because “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” Even when we don’t understand the suffering that is happening to us or someone else that we care about, we can trust that God is good, He is present, and He is in control.
When we face hard things in life, we can still trust in God and His plans. Need proof? Just think about the cross. At the cross, God used the ultimate pain and suffering to bring the ultimate Good News—our salvation from sin.
Job learned that God is all-powerful, sovereign, and good. When we face suffering, we can hope in God. God sent Jesus, the only truly innocent One, to suffer and die so that everyone who trusts in Him can have forgiveness and eternal life.
Prayer Time
Ask God to help you bless His name today, even if things don’t go well. Why could Job say “Blessed be His name” even when things were bad? How can we remember God’s goodness in times of trouble?
Make a list of all the things you have to be thankful for. Praise God for the blessings He has given to you and your family. How can we share our blessings with others to help them know Jesus?
Actively Apply the Scripture
For Fun
Plan a day of fun for your kids, but do not tell them any of the details. If they ask where you’re going or what you’ll do, remind them to trust that you have a plan. After the day of fun, talk about how it can be frustrating not to know what will happen next. Even in those moments, we can trust that God is all-powerful, sovereign, and good. We can always trust His plans for us.
To Serve
Visit a nursing home or hospital to comfort the residents. Read books, play games, or think of other tangible ways your family can bring peace and joy to the residents. Talk with your kids about how we can be a comfort for those who are suffering because we know and trust God as the ultimate source of comfort.