Session 2 - Group Activity

We broke into groups of 3-5 people to explore our own experiences with situations that require patience or long-suffering.

The worksheet we used asked us to list situations in our lives that required patience or long-suffering. Then, on the opposite side we listed the different behavior choices respective to those situations. This activity helped the women talk about the difficulties, but rather than trying to find solutions to events that we are largely not in control of, we talked about the choices we make of how we can choose to respond.

One woman shared how her husband and she had separated about a year ago and that she had since become a Christian. She said she is learning so much about trusting the Lord in her new faith and how much joy she has. But her husband, not a believer, is involved in activities that are not honorable and some unlawful. He is often angry, blames her for their problems, throws the fact that she is a Christian at her when she acts wrong, and is unwilling to reconcile. She still loves him but feels she is suffering a long time from his verbal abuse.

This woman's choices on how to respond could include anger, bitterness, or leveraging her control over their children as a way to hurt him back. We talked about another alternative for her to behave in a positive way. This would be to trust the Lord to take care of her, each day's requiremednts and to focus on giving on give the right kind of attention and time to her children to talk to her and find her available during this difficult time. The danger of allowing oneself to get caught up in anger is that once it starts, it's so hard to end. The women I know who are still angry at a spouse or situation from the past that had tried their patience are clearly not happy. We talked about allowing joy to fill her heart of God's peace and not become a bitter woman to those around her and to have that image to her children. I believe we can all bring to mind a woman who has let bitterness tangle her up and turned her into a contentious, negative thinking, critcal person. We have to choose to be something else otherwise we will will slide right into that pit.

Other women shared their fears and told how they were worried about close family members who were fighting cancer and other illnesses. After listening to Betty Jean tell her story of caring for her mother, it opened up other's hearts to share in the difficult struggle they had of being a care giver to a family member. Watching a loved one suffer is not easy and we talked about how we can respond and also how easy in this situation it is become discouraged and to lose hope. We reminded each other to read the Bible on daily basis especially in hard hard trials. We can pick up so many promises.

Remember too, that because we are human, we will have moments or even seasons of low faith and little trust. Recognize these times as opportunities to see how great our God is. His mercy is everlasting. His goodness to each of us is waiting to pour into each inndividual in a unique way.

An excellent passage that has encouraged me on numerous occassions and that has helped me to know what behavior to aspire to is Colossians 1:10-14.
"Walk in a manner worthy of th Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, accoriding to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously, giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in teh inheritance of the saints in light. For he delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved son, in whom we have redeption, the forgiveness of sins."