Key Thought: Innocent suffering is never innocent. It is a part of a sin-filled world. However, faith helps us look beyond the suffering toward Divine restoration.

Sabbath School Lesson 8 for November 19, 2016

1. Have a volunteer read Job 10:15-20.

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a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
b. Why is Job regretting that he’d ever been born and ruing the day he was?
c. Personal Application : Have you ever met someone who felt that they were unjustly being punished in some way? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your relatives states: “How are we supposed to react to the suffering inflicted by war, terrorism, and natural disasters? Aren’t these people innocent victims?” How would you respond to your relatives?

2. Have a volunteer read Job 15:14-16.

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
b. What basic truth is presented by Eliphaz here?
c. Personal Application : How do you respond to someone who blames God for all the evil and bad to come upon them? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your friends states, “I think that life has both good and evil. Even though there is evil in the world, the good outweighs the bad in the end.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Job 1:18-20.

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. Why did Job worship God when he heard his sons had been killed? Is that a normal reaction?
c. Personal Application: What gave you hope in the midst of suffering? How can you find hope when trouble comes? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your neighbors states, “How can people thank God when bad things happen? How can they not show distress and grif when trouble comes? Don’t they have any feelings or care?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Proverbs 3:5.

a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. What does it mean not to lean on our own understanding?
c. Personal Application :Have you even faced a challenge you didn’t understand and didn’t know how to cope with? What did you do? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing  virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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