Heart Over Hype: What God Sees

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: 1 Samuel 16.

overview

This chapter is filled with hope for us as we are reminded that often God begins doing something new before we’re done grieving the past, before we even see or understand what he is preparing. God interrupts Samuel’s grief for Saul and tells him there is a new king to be anointed, directing him where to go. As humans, our circumstances can cause us to stay stuck in hopelessness; but as believers, we are invited to trust God and wait for his direction. This isn’t a call to avoid a time of grieving, but we can learn to grieve and hold onto hope at the same time.

question 1

Are you mourning the loss of a dream, or someone who is no longer in your life? How might God be wanting to lead you through this and into a time of hopeful expectation?

discussion

Read Genesis 16:7-14. Samuel, a holy man devoted to God, judged the new king with his eyes until God corrected his vision. We are no different than Samuel – we might think we don’t judge by appearance or experience, but we are often trapped in the limits of our human senses. We cannot see a person’s inner thoughts and values. What a relief that God’s criteria are not like that of humans and that he sees our hearts – our inner self, our desires, and values. He alone knows the devotion that we have for him and for others. David was forgotten, not even considered or valued enough to be invited to the gathering yet God saw him. This can be a comfort for those who also feel forgotten or overlooked – that God sees you and your heart for him, and that he meets with you and will lead you in your life. 

question 2

In our own times of feeling forgotten, God will often use other people to randomly check in on us, or a Scripture reading to bring us comfort. Share a time when God met you in your own feelings of being overlooked. What did it look like and how did it encourage you?

Despite being anointed as king, David would have to wait 15 years to take the throne and rule. God orchestrated David’s rise and position in the palace in a way that no one could have planned. God will orchestrate people and circumstances in our own lives that we could have never dreamed up to give us the life he has planned for us. We have free will though, so it’s up to us to invite the Holy Spirit’s guidance and follow it. If we sense the slightest “no” or warning, despite whether it makes sense or not, it will be good for us to listen. 

question 3

Do you have a testimony of God orchestrating something in your own life that you could have never dreamed up or planned on your own? Give God the glory as a group and thank him for his presence and leading. 

weekly application

James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Consider asking God each morning to give you the wisdom you need for the day and be sure to pause before decisions and wait. Practice listening for a “no” or “not now” to avoid making decisions that might not be God’s best for you.