For those meeting in Community Groups this week, here are the application questions for Study One: Looking Back, Looking Forward.
Moses opens his speech by making Israel look back on their past in order to highlight the fact that they must learn to mistrust themselves.
1. Are you more likely to be blasé about your past (“let’s just forget that ever happened”) or be crippled by your past (unable to move on from your mistakes)? How can we learn to mistrust ourselves in ways that are healthy and lead to growth?
The other side of the coin for Moses is that mistrusting ourselves should lead us to trusting God – particularly trusting him to deliver on specific promises he gives to his people.
2. In what ways do we expect God to deliver on promises he never gave us? What has God promised us, and how can we have a realistic trust in God?
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
3. How do these words change how we view our successes and failures? What comfort (if any) do you find in these words?
