Focus 2 | The Burdens You Assume
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Consider this ice breaker as you gather for the Spotlight.
What band would you have play at your funeral?
What band would you have play at your funeral?
See what this Spotlight—and series—is focused on.
Tap on the words "Focus 2" in the image below to read this Spotlight's summary.
Tap on the words "Focus 2" in the image below to read this Spotlight's summary.
Let’s talk about tea prices in China.
Listen to this audio clip when you’re ready to begin today’s Spotlight. (And welcome, by the way! It’s great that you’re here!)
Listen to this audio clip when you’re ready to begin today’s Spotlight. (And welcome, by the way! It’s great that you’re here!)
Share about a time you were surprised by the hidden costs of an item.
If you’ve ever be caught off guard by a cost you weren’t anticipating (we’d be surprised if you haven’t), please share about your experience—what happened, how you felt, how you responded, and what the result was.
If you’re experiencing this Spotlight in a group, it’s storytime. Go around, sharing your experiences. (If you’re doing this Spotlight solo, that’s okay. If you’d like, consider sharing yours in the comments section below.)
However you’ve been caught off guard by hidden costs in the past, this Spotlight will hopefully help you be a little less surprised in the future. Today, you’re considering not only the questions people hold but all the extra things—the weight—that comes along with those questions. There’s always more to it, and understanding the “more” is a good way to love.
If you’ve ever be caught off guard by a cost you weren’t anticipating (we’d be surprised if you haven’t), please share about your experience—what happened, how you felt, how you responded, and what the result was.
If you’re experiencing this Spotlight in a group, it’s storytime. Go around, sharing your experiences. (If you’re doing this Spotlight solo, that’s okay. If you’d like, consider sharing yours in the comments section below.)
However you’ve been caught off guard by hidden costs in the past, this Spotlight will hopefully help you be a little less surprised in the future. Today, you’re considering not only the questions people hold but all the extra things—the weight—that comes along with those questions. There’s always more to it, and understanding the “more” is a good way to love.
Welcome Perspective
When they’re “just questions,” they can be fun…
but are they ever really just questions?
When they’re “just questions,” they can be fun…
but are they ever really just questions?
Interact with this presentation to consider what God wants of you.
The Bible’s story of Job is remarkable. Pain, doubt, questions, misinformation, and faith are all met with the same thing: The answer of the Almighty. In each part of this series, you’ll walk with a different character from the story through their thoughts. First, you’ll hear from Job (the first part of this series—you can check that out here). Then, you’ll hear from his terrible friends, followed by a young man named Elihu. Finally, the voice of God.
(If you’d like an excellent, quick summary of Job’s story, click here.)
Can you find the common threads in these words? Before you interact with this image, get out some way to take notes—hopefully, one you’ll use for the remainder of the Spotlights in this series. As you interact, write down one or two broad implications of the things Job’s friends say. In other words, when they see Job’s suffering, what assumptions do they make about the cause and solution of the suffering?
The Bible’s story of Job is remarkable. Pain, doubt, questions, misinformation, and faith are all met with the same thing: The answer of the Almighty. In each part of this series, you’ll walk with a different character from the story through their thoughts. First, you’ll hear from Job (the first part of this series—you can check that out here). Then, you’ll hear from his terrible friends, followed by a young man named Elihu. Finally, the voice of God.
(If you’d like an excellent, quick summary of Job’s story, click here.)
Can you find the common threads in these words? Before you interact with this image, get out some way to take notes—hopefully, one you’ll use for the remainder of the Spotlights in this series. As you interact, write down one or two broad implications of the things Job’s friends say. In other words, when they see Job’s suffering, what assumptions do they make about the cause and solution of the suffering?
Think about the extra weight that questions can bring with them.
In an attempt to show the significance of the questions people ask about life, meaning, and the universe, much has been written. For example,
“We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.”
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
(However, while this is a nice-sounding idea, it’s also exhausting.)
If the pressure to “make the world significant” is on the questions you’re asking, as the quote suggests, do you feel the extra weight? It’s no longer just about having a question and finding out an answer. It’s about making the world work—a heavy burden to bear, indeed.
Solomon, the king of Israel who brought the country to it’s height in power and prestige, summarized this extra weight this way:
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
The extra weight that comes with questions takes many forms.
Questions come with…
emotions like…
anxieties,
fear of disappointment,
precarious hopes…
(What else did we miss?)
As you look at a list like this, you can understand why people who are asking important questions often feel like they’re looking for more than an answer—they’re looking for relief from all this extra weight.
Discuss: Which of the pictures below does the best job of showing the weight of your questions?
(Or would you describe the weight of your questions another way?)
While there is a lot to say about how the extra weight of questions can be managed (which will be discussed in the Learn portion of this Spotlight), there’s also the undeniable truth that you will spend time with questions and those questions will come with extra weight. The good news is that you don’t have to wait for the answer to a question to find relief from the weight.
Consider how David, the father of Solomon, described himself. What implications does the main, repeated metaphor of Psalm 103 have on finding relief in the midst of questions?
Psalm 103
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
In an attempt to show the significance of the questions people ask about life, meaning, and the universe, much has been written. For example,
“We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.”
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
(However, while this is a nice-sounding idea, it’s also exhausting.)
If the pressure to “make the world significant” is on the questions you’re asking, as the quote suggests, do you feel the extra weight? It’s no longer just about having a question and finding out an answer. It’s about making the world work—a heavy burden to bear, indeed.
Solomon, the king of Israel who brought the country to it’s height in power and prestige, summarized this extra weight this way:
I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
The extra weight that comes with questions takes many forms.
Questions come with…
emotions like…
- sadness
- anger
- embarrassment
- fears
- regrets
- offenses
- failures
anxieties,
fear of disappointment,
precarious hopes…
(What else did we miss?)
As you look at a list like this, you can understand why people who are asking important questions often feel like they’re looking for more than an answer—they’re looking for relief from all this extra weight.
Discuss: Which of the pictures below does the best job of showing the weight of your questions?
(Or would you describe the weight of your questions another way?)
While there is a lot to say about how the extra weight of questions can be managed (which will be discussed in the Learn portion of this Spotlight), there’s also the undeniable truth that you will spend time with questions and those questions will come with extra weight. The good news is that you don’t have to wait for the answer to a question to find relief from the weight.
Consider how David, the father of Solomon, described himself. What implications does the main, repeated metaphor of Psalm 103 have on finding relief in the midst of questions?
Psalm 103
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
Listen and meditate on this song.
Asking questions, wanting an answer, and bearing the weight of waiting for an answer are exactly as common as just having questions. It’s universal—every human has done it and will do it. Even Jesus, as he lived his life, asked unanswered questions of God.
The song The Silence of God is about the times you have questions but no answers, and it beautifully connects that experience to Jesus, who knows exactly what it feels like.
Asking questions, wanting an answer, and bearing the weight of waiting for an answer are exactly as common as just having questions. It’s universal—every human has done it and will do it. Even Jesus, as he lived his life, asked unanswered questions of God.
The song The Silence of God is about the times you have questions but no answers, and it beautifully connects that experience to Jesus, who knows exactly what it feels like.
Lyrics from The Silence of God by Andrew Peterson
It’s enough to drive a man crazy; it’ll break a man’s faith;
It’s enough to make him wonder if he’s ever been sane,
When he’s bleating for comfort from thy staff and thy rod
and the heaven’s only answer is the silence of God.
It’ll shake a man’s timbers when he loses his heart—
when he has to remember what broke him apart.
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
when the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God.
And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they’ve got,
when they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
then what about the times when even followers get lost?
’Cause we all get lost sometimes…
There’s a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
in the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
and he’s kneeling in the garden, as silent as a stone
all his friends are sleeping and he’s weeping all alone.
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
what sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought.
So, when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
the aching may remain, but the breaking does not…
the aching may remain, but the breaking does not
in the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God.
It’s enough to drive a man crazy; it’ll break a man’s faith;
It’s enough to make him wonder if he’s ever been sane,
When he’s bleating for comfort from thy staff and thy rod
and the heaven’s only answer is the silence of God.
It’ll shake a man’s timbers when he loses his heart—
when he has to remember what broke him apart.
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
when the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God.
And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they’ve got,
when they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
then what about the times when even followers get lost?
’Cause we all get lost sometimes…
There’s a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
in the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
and he’s kneeling in the garden, as silent as a stone
all his friends are sleeping and he’s weeping all alone.
And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
what sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought.
So, when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
the aching may remain, but the breaking does not…
the aching may remain, but the breaking does not
in the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God.
Worship Perspective
Questions have baggage,
but carrying burdens is Jesus’ specialty.
Questions have baggage,
but carrying burdens is Jesus’ specialty.
What is the correct, best, and most right pizza order?
(Scroll down for an exercise in finding the baggage that comes along with questions.)
Discuss (if you’re in a group) or consider (if you’re by yourself) the reality of ordering pizza.
How can the answer to “What should we order?” change when…
Though that variety does mean it takes a little more work to actually answer a person’s question in a way that is effective for them, don’t be too surprised. As was discussed in the first week of this Spotlight series, it’s never really been about the answers. Instead, it’s about love, and finding ways to love the actual person in front of you. (At the end of the day, that’s what pizza is about, too.)
(Scroll down for an exercise in finding the baggage that comes along with questions.)
Discuss (if you’re in a group) or consider (if you’re by yourself) the reality of ordering pizza.
How can the answer to “What should we order?” change when…
- the number of people changes?
- the dietary restrictions of the group change?
- the place the pizza will be eaten changes?
- the person(s) paying for it changes?
- the time for eating it changes?
Though that variety does mean it takes a little more work to actually answer a person’s question in a way that is effective for them, don’t be too surprised. As was discussed in the first week of this Spotlight series, it’s never really been about the answers. Instead, it’s about love, and finding ways to love the actual person in front of you. (At the end of the day, that’s what pizza is about, too.)
Let’s work on identifying the baggage.
We know that “We all possess knowledge.”
But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.
But whoever loves God is known by God.
These words from chapter eight of 1 Corinthians are very wise and speak to the core of how to handle questions. Do you know what specific topic they were originally addressing?
+ READ 1 CORINTHIANS 8 TO FIND OUT
There are several “extra implications” that are brought up in this section. How many do you see?
(Here’s chapter eight of 1 Corinthians again:)
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
“Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”
People carry a lot of burdens—many of which they put on themselves.
In every case, human beings can’t bear those burdens and only end up angrier and more uncertain. Letting the almighty answer creates space that lets others be others and trusts love (and don’t miss what 1 Corinthians 8:3 said about love) to cover all.
Let's discuss the bridge in the picture above. Its job is to support cars as they cross the water. What are the different methods it employs to hold the cars above the water? More importantly, how might the method you point out be a metaphor for the ways people are supported as they carry their questions?
We know that “We all possess knowledge.”
But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.
But whoever loves God is known by God.
These words from chapter eight of 1 Corinthians are very wise and speak to the core of how to handle questions. Do you know what specific topic they were originally addressing?
+ READ 1 CORINTHIANS 8 TO FIND OUT
There are several “extra implications” that are brought up in this section. How many do you see?
(Here’s chapter eight of 1 Corinthians again:)
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.
So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
“Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”
People carry a lot of burdens—many of which they put on themselves.
- They take on the burden of answering for the universe.
- They take on the burden of answering for guilt.
- They take on the burden of controlling relationships.
In every case, human beings can’t bear those burdens and only end up angrier and more uncertain. Letting the almighty answer creates space that lets others be others and trusts love (and don’t miss what 1 Corinthians 8:3 said about love) to cover all.
Let's discuss the bridge in the picture above. Its job is to support cars as they cross the water. What are the different methods it employs to hold the cars above the water? More importantly, how might the method you point out be a metaphor for the ways people are supported as they carry their questions?
Learn Perspective
Explaining the world may improve your love—
but it is not your purpose.
Explaining the world may improve your love—
but it is not your purpose.
Let’s connect this to COVID’s impact on education.
The Center on Reinventing Public Education is a local organization working hard to answer the questions that the pandemic has brought to education.
First, follow these steps to learn more about the organization.
You can…
The Center on Reinventing Public Education is a local organization working hard to answer the questions that the pandemic has brought to education.
First, follow these steps to learn more about the organization.
- Set a timer for 5 minutes.
- Go to their website.
- Identify at least one interesting thing about the organization or its work.
- (If you’re doing this Spotlight in a group, share that interesting thing!)
- Why can a Christian speak in hopeful terms about the future?
- What hope and positive truths does a Christian have to share with those facing post-pandemic education worries?
- What does it take to effectively communicate the good, hope-focused attitude the Christian can have about the future with someone who is feeling depressed by the challenge?
You can…
- Everyone pray silently, on their own, for two minutes.
- Have one person in the group volunteer to pray for the group.
- Use the popcorn prayer format (a format in which people pray aloud by taking turns in no particular order).
Feel free to submit a prayer request by filling out the below form.
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)
Pray through your requests—together—as a group.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.
Serve Perspective
Therefore, let us not love with words or speech
but in actions and in truth.
Therefore, let us not love with words or speech
but in actions and in truth.
Meditate on God’s desire for your questions using the video below.
Finish your meditation with this song.
In God’s kind response to our questions, as he takes the burden off your shoulders, what was pain becomes beautiful grace.
In God’s kind response to our questions, as he takes the burden off your shoulders, what was pain becomes beautiful grace.
Lyrics from Brokenness Aside by All Sons & Daughters
Will your grace run out if I let you down?
Because all I know is how to run.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
Will you call me child when I tell you lies?
Because all I know is how to cry.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
You make it beautiful.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
Will your grace run out if I let you down?
Because all I know is how to run.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
Will you call me child when I tell you lies?
Because all I know is how to cry.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
You make it beautiful.
I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another.
Caught up in words tangled in lies.
Oh, but you are a savior,
and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful.
Sing along with (or listen to) this song to close out this Spotlight.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.
Farewell Perspective
Give God your questions
and you’ll get more relief than you knew you needed.
Give God your questions
and you’ll get more relief than you knew you needed.
Let's wrap things up by taking a look at what's Current at Illume.
Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.
Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.
Posted in On Letting the Almighty Answer
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