Is It Normal? Week 2- Is it normal to experience both clarity and cloudiness in our relationships with God?

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Scriptures From Sunday: Matthew 16:5-23, 6:11,31-33; Lk 24:36a, 44-48; Acts 2:14,22-24,32; 2Peter 3:14-16

REFLECT/DISCUSS:

What is you favorite kind of climate? What does the forecast for your ideal day look like?

What is the biggest swing in weather you’ve ever seen? Where have you encountered the thickest fog? Clearest water? Bluest sky?

Do you have more moments of clarity (where you have a good sense of what God is saying to you and is doing in your life) or cloudiness (where you aren’t so sure)?

What strikes you most about the swings between understanding and confusion described in Matthew 16?

Fred suggested some reasons why Peter and the other disciples may not have understood Jesus’ admonition to avoid the yeast of the Pharisees in Mt 16:5-12:

1. We don’t always think like Jesus.

2. We get distracted by the daily, mundane stuff.

3. We forget what God has done for and taught us in the past.

4. We forget that Jesus is with us.

Which of these do you see play out most often in your own journey?

When was the last time you had a significant moment of clarity in your walk with God? What did God reveal to you or help you understand? Did your feelings mirror what Jesus said about Peter in Mt. 6:18-19 (like you had a more solid foundation, your faith was being built up, something had gotten unlocked for you, ready to do spiritual battle)?

Peter heard some things from Jesus that he didn’t understand and didn’t like in Mt. 16:21-23. Has that ever happened to you? Have your beliefs ever opposed what God wanted to do in and through you?

How does Peter’s declaration in 2 Peter 3:14-16 that he doesn’t understand everything that Paul writes in scripture strike you?

Is knowledge and understanding God’s ultimate goal for us? If not, what is?

For Further Study: Read Acts 10. What does this story tell you about the need for continued growth in our understanding of God? Has God ever shown you that the way you were thinking about and living out some part of your faith was off course? Do you think we’ll ever have a complete and flawless understanding of God here on earth?