Summit Church
Ruthless Trust Pt 2 | Trusting in the Dark | Jim Ladd
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Summit Church
7200 S Clinton St, Centennial, CO 80112, USA
Sunday 10:00 AM
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https://launcher.nucleus.church/flow/45159ea35f0710632a77When pain and suffering are conjoined with the monstrous mystery of evil, we come to a crossroads from which there is no turning back.
Ruthless Trust is a relentless reliance upon God that is demonstrated by how I live my life in every circumstance.
Habakkuk 3:17–19
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”
2 Corinthians 4:7–18
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
The Big Idea: We can find peace in the dark through the Presence of our suffering Savior.
The Confusion of Suffering
* So much pain and suffering - Persuades some, “How could God allow this?”
* So much pain and suffering - Persuades some, “How could God allow this?”
Psalm 22:1-2
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.”
The Clarity of the Cross
Isaiah 53:1-11
“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”
“Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”
God enters the pain and suffering in the Cross - Persuades us, “I trust the One who suffers with me and delivers me to an eternal weight of glory”
The Treasure and Jars of Clay
* The glory of God is displayed in the cross; the entering into suffering, not the avoidance of it.
* Everyone whom God has used greatly, He has broken deeply.
* Our power is not in our trophies, it is in our scars.
* There is an eternal weight of glory at the end of this life of pain
* Trust doesn’t rest on outcomes—it rests on who God is.
* Feelings are fickle—trust is stable.
* The glory of God is displayed in the cross; the entering into suffering, not the avoidance of it.
* Everyone whom God has used greatly, He has broken deeply.
* Our power is not in our trophies, it is in our scars.
* There is an eternal weight of glory at the end of this life of pain
* Trust doesn’t rest on outcomes—it rests on who God is.
* Feelings are fickle—trust is stable.
Response:
* Get Prayer during song
* Sign the banner
* Get Prayer during song
* Sign the banner
Discussion Guide
The Big Idea: We can find peace in the dark through the Presence of our suffering Savior.
Icebreaker Question
When you were a kid, what was the thing you were most afraid of, and how did you try to deal with it?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the dark and challenging things people face that seem the hardest to you? Why do you think they hit you that way?
2. Read Psalm 22:1–2. Why do you think God included prayers of such raw honesty in Scripture?
3. Have you ever had a moment where pain or evil made you question God’s goodness? How did you respond?
4. In Job 42:7, God says Job “spoke truthfully” about Him even in his confusion. What does truthful speech about God look like in seasons of suffering?
5. Read Isaiah 53:3–5. How does knowing that Jesus suffered help you trust Him when you suffer?
6. Read 2 Corinthians 4:7–9. Why do you think God chooses to display His power through our weakness instead of our strength?
7. “Trust doesn’t rest on outcomes—it rests on who God is.” What’s the difference between trusting God for something and trusting God in something?
8. How has God used your scars or past pain to minister to others?
9. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16–18. How does fixing our eyes on what is unseen help us persevere?
10. The response challenge was to move toward suffering where you live, work, study, and play. What’s one specific way you can do that this week?
Icebreaker Question
When you were a kid, what was the thing you were most afraid of, and how did you try to deal with it?
Discussion Questions
1. What are the dark and challenging things people face that seem the hardest to you? Why do you think they hit you that way?
2. Read Psalm 22:1–2. Why do you think God included prayers of such raw honesty in Scripture?
3. Have you ever had a moment where pain or evil made you question God’s goodness? How did you respond?
4. In Job 42:7, God says Job “spoke truthfully” about Him even in his confusion. What does truthful speech about God look like in seasons of suffering?
5. Read Isaiah 53:3–5. How does knowing that Jesus suffered help you trust Him when you suffer?
6. Read 2 Corinthians 4:7–9. Why do you think God chooses to display His power through our weakness instead of our strength?
7. “Trust doesn’t rest on outcomes—it rests on who God is.” What’s the difference between trusting God for something and trusting God in something?
8. How has God used your scars or past pain to minister to others?
9. Read 2 Corinthians 4:16–18. How does fixing our eyes on what is unseen help us persevere?
10. The response challenge was to move toward suffering where you live, work, study, and play. What’s one specific way you can do that this week?