part0011

R eflect on the material you’ve covered this week by engaging in any or all of the following between-sessions activities. Each personal study consists of several reflection activities to help you implement what you learned in the group time. The time you invest will be well spent, so let God use it to draw you closer to him. At your next meeting, share any key points or insights that stood out to you as you spent this time with the Lord.

In your group time this week, you looked first at John’s story of the healing of an official’s son. The official had traveled from his hometown of Capernaum to Cana, where Jesus was located, to ask him for a miracle. Jesus told the official, “Go back home. Your son will live!” (John 4:50 NLT ). Such good news . . . but the man had wanted Jesus to come back with him to Capernaum. Instead, the official had to return alone, trusting his son would indeed live.

2. Why do you think Jesus performed this miracle as he did—by not returning with the man? Why do you think we sometimes have to wait before we get unstuck?

3. The Bible is full of stories of people who waited on the Lord for a miracle. Abraham and Sarah waited for a son (see Genesis 21). Joseph waited to be let out of prison (see Genesis 41). The Israelites waited to enter into the Promised Land (see Joshua 3). Elizabeth waited on a child (see Luke 1). There must be a purpose for all of this waiting in Scripture! Read the story of the official one more time:

46 There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die.

51 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. 52 He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” 53 Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea (John 4:46–54 NLT ).

What question does Jesus ask when the man comes to him (see verse 48)? What does this tell you about Jesus’ intent in performing the healing for this man?

4. How did the man respond to Jesus’ instructions (see verse 50)? How can waiting on God increase our faith? On the other hand, how can increased faith help us wait on God?

5. Have you ever experienced an increase in your faith when you were waiting on something? Or perhaps a strengthening of your character? Explain.

Prayer: Identify what you need most during those times when you are waiting for God to act. Do you need more faith, patience, hope? Ask God to give you those things today. End your time by contemplating or reading aloud these words from Psalm 130:5–6: “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning” (NKJV ).

In your group time this week, you also looked at the story of Jesus healing the man by the Pool of Bethesda. The story reveals that sometimes it’s easier (and more comfortable) to just stay stuck in a situation. The unknown of what life will look like after the change can be scary. And when you do get unstuck, sometimes others aren’t happy about it. Maybe they are still stuck themselves or have another reason for not being supportive. The man by the pool of Bethesda experienced this, as the following account relates:

15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:15–18).

1. If you knew a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years and then was miraculously healed, what would your response be? How did the Jews respond to the man’s healing when he told them about it? Why were the Jews angry at Jesus?

2. Have you ever experienced a miracle in your life, but the people around you were not as excited about it as you? Why do you think that was? How did it make you feel?

3. Jesus’ message was radical for the Jews of his time. He was claiming to be the Messiah, sent from God. He was claiming God was his father. This would have been a big deal to adherents of Judaism who took God’s name seriously and revered him greatly. The Jews were experiencing what we all experience at times: the threat of change. Even if it’s good change, it’s natural for us to want to protect ourselves when our lives are shaken up. Do you feel resistant to change in your life right now? Particularly a change that could make you unstuck from a certain situation? If so, why do you feel resistant? Do you worry what others will think if you allow this change to happen?

4. John goes on to record the following words from Jesus in response to the persecution the Jewish leaders began to level at him for healing the man on the Sabbath:

36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:36–40).

Prayer: What are you struggling with today when it comes to change? Are you resisting taking actions that will make you unstuck? Do the people around you not support the fact you have experienced the love of Christ and are now unstuck from something? Are you judging a friend, family member, or loved one for the changes they have made in their lives? Wherever you find yourself today, bring that struggle honestly before God in prayer.

John relates in the opening chapter of his Gospel how Jesus called Andrew and Peter to follow him and become his disciples (see John 1:35–42). Luke relates some additional details in his Gospel about that encounter . . . when the two fishermen were feeling particularly stuck:

1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him (Luke 5:1–11).

1. How did Peter respond to Jesus’ request to “put out into deep water” and let down the nets (see verses 4–5)? Why was he reluctant to follow this request?

2. Peter and the others had been fishing all night, so it could be assumed they had also put out into deep water and let down their nets. Regardless of this, why do you think that Peter agreed to do what Jesus asked?

4. Have you ever made a small change in your life that made a big difference? If so, what did you do? What inspired you to make the change? How did it affect your being stuck?

Prayer: Read this prayer aloud or silently to yourself: “God, help me in the areas where I feel stuck in life. I don’t always know how to get unstuck, what to change, or what the first step toward change even is. Show me the small things I can do now that will make a big difference in my life, in my heart, and in my relationships. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see so that I can follow in the way of Jesus and not stay stuck forever. Thank you for loving me where I am and thank you for loving me too much to leave me there. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”

Use the space below to further reflect on what you studied this week: waiting on God, what happens after you’re stuck, and the power of making small changes. Journal your thoughts or write them as a prayer to God, either asking him questions about what you learned, thanking him for what you learned, or seeking answers from him on what to do next now that you better understand these topics in Scripture. Also write down any observations or questions that you want to bring to your next group time.