It's Not Supposed to Be This Way — That's a Wrap!

OBS Friends, I don’t think a study has ever gone by as quickly as It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way. Honestly, I could spend a year on this topic and still have more to learn from the Scripture readings alone. Are you looking forward to catch-up week? Take a deep breath and just process it all… this week is the perfect time to rewatch all the videos (they’re all available for viewing again!), read through your study guide and notes, memorize the Bible verses that most impacted you, and journal in your workbooks if you’ve fallen a little behind.

For so many of us, It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way came at the exact right time — God has a tendency to do that! I didn’t know at the beginning of this study that I’d go through terrible injustice and life-upending trauma in the middle of it, my most “Lord, it’s not supposed to be this way!” season ever. Many of you have shared similar stories and testimonies with us, and it’s been our privilege to walk through it with you, friends.

In their hearts people plan their way, but the Lord directs their steps. — Proverbs 16:9

Sometimes to get your life back, you have to face the death of what you thought your life would look like. ~ Lysa TerKeurst

Like you, my life looks nothing like what I had anticipated. The shocks and disappointments, the What?! Why? And Why me?’s have been plentiful. Powerlessness can be so smothering.

Friends, let’s remember what we’ve learned from the Gospel and from Lysa through this study — suffering will make us bitter or better, harder or more tender, weaker or stronger. But, it will not leave us as we were.

So, for a Christian, it’s vital that we handle suffering in a way that shapes us for the better.

Fix your thoughts on Jesus. — Hebrews 3:1

We will steer where we stare. ~ Lysa

• Look at your disappointments through the lens of the great love of God. It will change how you see everything.
• Don’t start with your feelings to process your circumstances. We have to start with what we know is true: God is good.
• God’s promise fulfilled applies both to problems placed on us and problems within us.
• In Jesus, we can turn the tragedy of sin into a victorious testimony.
• The enemy is very smart: He knows that if he can erode our trust in God and elevate our trust in ourselves, we’re an easy target.
• This side of eternity is just the beginning. Eternal joy in God’s Kingdom is on the way!

Remember my daughter’s prayer “What the heck, God?”? That’s where we need to turn our faces when they’re shrouded in tears. We need to retrain ourselves to believe in the heartbroken places. To trust in the dark night of the soul. And to look to Him and Him alone no matter what our circumstances.

Because perfection is etched into the DNA of every human, we know what perfection is. But, since we don’t live in perfection any longer, we will struggle with disappointment. ~ Lysa

“This ain’t Heaven yet… but Heaven’s comin’!”

Jesus showed us how to live — “Not My will but Thy will be done.” Those words shook the foundation of the universe and they still do. We believers must submit to God the Father again and again and say those eight words over and over again just as Jesus did.

It is through the suffering that we are experiencing now that we will develop a perseverance to carry us forward then in what God sees coming our way. ~ Lysa

In between two gardens, there will be pain. But just as the Lord wove the story of hyssop (the foreshadowing of Jesus) throughout Scripture, He has promised us He will be with us. He will be with us in order to walk us through suffering and create a new heart within us to bring Him glory. The Man who wept, weeps with us still.

You cannot ever find healing for your pain if you’re always refusing to allow Jesus to deal with that pain. ~ Lysa

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book. — Psalm 56:8

There’s no escaping suffering in this broken, sin-soaked world.

Sin never just affects the one who sins. Just like the fragments of a bomb that are thrown out wounding all those around it, the shrapnel of personal sin is deeply felt by all those who are close. ~ Lysa

That’s why Psalm 51 is for all of us… because we all break the rules of relationship. Let’s own it like King David did (Psalm 51:3), confess, be cleansed, ask God to create something new in us and for His glory!

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. — James 1:12

The pain we’re walking through… It isn’t for nothing. ~ Lysa

The truth is that it is the heartbreak and the crushing that will be used by our Good Father to save us from our old selves and transform us and make us new.

God is working good even in the unseen. ~ Lysa

He is good. He can be trusted.

Even when we say “Lord, it’s not supposed to be this way” we can also say, “But, it really is all about You, Jesus. I trust You.”

Amen?

Before we say wrap it up, please put this on your calendars! Our coming Online Bible Study couldn’t be a more perfect next step to take — I Give Up with Laura Story is a study in surrender. If you’ve ever wished you were in control of your life, if you’ve ever had a plan break down, if you’ve ever wondered how to be happy following Jesus when life turns upside-down… you need I Give Up! Please join us and register today!