In the past few years, it feels like bad things have been striking fast and furious:
- Inflation and difficult economic times continue to affect people’s lives, jobs, and finances.
- Gun violence is at an all-time high in our country.
- Natural disasters affect people both in the United States and worldwide.
- Acts of racism have shed light on hate, violence, and fear happening around the country.
- Viruses like COVID-19 and RSV continue affecting people’s health.
- Political contention continues growing in anticipation of the 2024 election—an election surrounded by politics seeking to divide people, rather than unite them.
Each one of these events has affected people. They’ve caused illness, fear, unemployment, violence, and broken relationships. For many people, this might feel like the most difficult year yet.
- What has been the most difficult part of this year for you? (Accept all reasonable answers. Encourage teens to be vulnerable without taking a political slant or blaming specific people for why their circumstances are hard.)
- In the middle of hard situations, what’s the biggest question you would have for God? (Some of your teens may suggest questions that seem irreverent or angry, but that’s okay—so did the psalmists.)
You’ve probably been affected in some way by the hard circumstances we mentioned. There are times when all of us feel helpless and afraid. Maybe that’s been true of your life recently—maybe even today. In terrible circumstances, we have big questions for God: “Why did you let this happen? And why did it happen to me? Why don’t you stop evil things from striking Christians?”
The bad news is that there are no easy answers to those questions. The good news is that since people of faith have been asking them for thousands of years, we can learn from their experiences with the Lord. Let’s return to Job’s story in the Old Testament for some insights.
