When Life Throws Curveballs
Ecclesiastes 7:13-20 & 9:13-18
Living With Limits
March 21-22, 2015
Sermon Summary
I. There will be curveballs in life.
II. When curveballs happen:
A. Don’t fake your faith.
B. Don’t abandon your faith.
III. How to navigate the curveballs of life.
Sometimes life throws us curveballs and we are faced with unexpected challenges. We can’t always control the situations, but we can control how we respond when things don’t go as planned. The author of Ecclesiastes tells us that wisdom is an important and beneficial tool to helping us navigate both the good and bad times in life. But in Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, we discover that there are limits to wisdom: all the wisdom under the sun cannot control the future.
There will be times we can’t foresee where things will not go our way and everything will seem out of control. Sometimes bad things happen, and life doesn’t make sense. However, we can be comforted by the fact that the same God who allows the good days is also there with us through the bad ones. When curveballs come at us, we can remember that God has not lost control.
When we are faced with those unexpected challenges, we are tempted to put on a fake smile and pretend to have it all together — but the author of Ecclesiastes reminds us not to fake our faith; to instead be honest and open ourselves up to allowing God to work in our lives.
During a season of unexpected tragedy we are even more vulnerable to temptation — which means we need to be on guard, to lean into our faith and not abandon it. Some ways we can combat the feeling of wanting to give up and throw in the towel include being accountable to people in our lives who will be there to encourage us, and turning to the scriptures to pray through passages where people were able to be real and honest before God.
As mentioned, wisdom is important when navigating life’s curveballs — but wisdom has its limits. In 1 Corinthians 1:22 the apostle Paul tells us that Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” In order to have full wisdom in our situations, we must turn to Jesus. We may not be able to take control or see the future when challenges come our way, but by believing God is in control and turning to Jesus Christ, we can better navigate the curveballs of life.
Link to the Sermon
1. Have you ever felt like life was going well, only to have the bottom drop out on you? Or as if you wanted to be headed in a certain direction, but were drifting off the path? How did the change affect your outlook on the situation?
2. In a hard season of life, it’s easy to feel as if everyone is against you, even God. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt abandoned? What, or who, helped you to realize you weren’t alone? Were you able to learn and/or grow during this season, despite its challenges?
This Week’s Bible Study
Psalm 13 (New Living Translation)
1 O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way?
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
with sorrow in my heart every day?
How long with my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love.
I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
6 I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.
Background and Context
The psalms are a collection of poetry and song lyrics written by followers of God over the course of roughly a thousand years, spanning from the time of Moses (1440 bc) to the Babylonian captivity (586 bc). The psalms follow many styles but share a common purpose of recording prayers or hymns of worship to God. This particular psalm was written by David, most likely between his bout with Goliath and him being anointed as king of Judah, during the time when King Saul was out to kill him. It is a psalm of lament, showing David’s distress in a time of challenge.
Today’s study of Psalm 13 will focus on the importance of practicing honest faith, keeping our faith in trying situations, and remembering to keep in perspective that God is good and is in control of the situation at hand.
Study & Discuss
1. Read the passage aloud. What emotions are David expressing in this psalm?
What does this passage show us about how we are allowed to interact with God?
In what ways can you use this example to become more honest with God in your own prayers?
David is expressing emotions such as frustration, impatience, anguish, distress, abandonment, and fear of defeat. He is bluntly sharing his feelings with God, not hiding any of his fears — David is interacting with God on a very personal level, talking with Him as a trusted friend. This can inspire us to open up and express our feelings to God, even if they’re unpleasant or if we’re upset with Him, so that we can talk out our problems in order to gain His understanding and peace.
2. What phrase is repeated in verses 1-2? The phrase “how long?” is a translation of a Hebrew phrase ‘ad-‘anah meaning “until when?” and is repeated throughout the psalms. What does this question say about David’s belief in God’s presence and timing? Do you ever pray prayers similar to David’s, wondering if God has forgotten you? What caused you to feel that way?
The phrase “how long?” implies that David knows that there will be a time when God turns back to him and removes the sorrow from his life, but, like us, he is impatient for that time to come and is praying for relief during a time of despair. At times we all have felt alone in our pain and suffering, but it is important to remember that God is always with us (reference Joshua 1:9).
3. After David cries out to God in the first four verses, how does he wrap up the psalm? Does this conclusion seem like a contradiction to the rest of the psalm? Based on the final two verses, what do you think David believes about God’s character? How can you apply this template of David’s prayer to your own prayers?
David wraps up the psalm by praising God and declaring His trustworthiness and goodness. The ending may seem contradictory, but in this psalm David is expressing what he feels in the first four verses and what he knows in the last two. He feels far from God, but he knows that God is faithful — he has seen God work in his life and believes God’s character never changes, even though life has thrown David a curveball. When we’re faced with challenging situations and share those feelings with God,
we should also praise Him for the good things, as a reminder that his unfailing love never changes: the same God who allows the good days is also there with us through the bad ones.
Ministry Time
Allow time to welcome the presence of God and wait for the Holy Spirit to speak — giving specific guidance for prayer and ministry time. Here are a couple of suggestions:
1. During the discussion, group members may have shared about times in their lives when tragedy struck and they felt out of control, off course, or abandoned. Offer to pray for direction, for peace, for the hope and understanding that God can and will bring change, and for the comfort that God’s loving character does not change when we experience difficulty. Encourage group members to be accountable to one another during the hard and vulnerable seasons in life.
2. David’s brutally honest prayer/psalm shows us that we do not have to hold back, sanitize, or sugar-coat our prayers to God. Is there anything in your life that you are waiting on God for, but may have been unwilling to talk to Him about? God loves you and wants to know why you are hurting and what you are waiting for — be honest with him in your prayers, as David was. Pray with one another about the things you are struggling with and waiting for, as well as for the strength to remember God’s goodness and faithfulness during our own challenges.