I Know God Can, I Know God Will, But I Don’t Know How

Sermon Summary 

• Are you praying for clarity on a decision in your life? Pastor Jabin Chavez preaches about the role of faith in how we see our lives and in the decisions that we make. Maybe the reason you can’t tell what’s next is that God is inviting you into something you haven’t seen before.

Sermon Highlights 

• God is inviting you into something you’ve never seen before.

• Sometimes, we end up not taking a step because we’re praying for clarity, but we need to be praying for the courage to obey.

• Faith requires movement before manifestation.

• Faith Knows 

  • Everything God does begins in the unseen.

  • Don’t give up on the word God spoke to you. The Word is working.

• Faith Doesn’t Know

  • Faith goes without knowing.

  • I know God can, and I know He will, but I don’t know how.

• Faith Goes

  • What is faith asking me to do? Do it and don’t be scared to obey God.

  • The devil will convince you that obedience is a risk, but it’s never a risk to obey God.

• Every act of obedience to God leads to better.

• You’ve outgrown that. It was good for you in one season, but it’s time to go.

• If I’m willing to go without knowing, that’s where the blessing is.

• The longer you walk with God, it gets brighter and brighter. (See Psalm 119:105)

Scriptures

Read this week’s scriptures. Ask your group what stands out to them.

• Hebrews 11:8

• 2 Corinthians 5:7

• Matthew 4:4

• Hebrews 11:3

• Colossians 1:16

• 1 Peter 1:23

• Psalm 119:105 

• Proverbs 4:18

Sermon Discussion

Conversation Starter 

Choose the one that works best for your group!

• Pastor Jabin talked about packing away his daughter’s old toys and how she struggles to let go of them. Do you have anything like that in your life?

• Pastor Jabin showed us a picture of Death Valley, which is the hottest, driest place in the US. The coldest is Prospect Creek, Alaska, which holds the U.S. record for the lowest temperature: minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Which would you rather visit?

Discussion Questions

• “Every act of obedience to God leads to better.” Share a time in your life when obedience to God was difficult, but it led to something good.

• “You’ve outgrown that. It was good for you in one season, but it’s time to go.” Is there something in your life you’ve been holding on to, but God’s calling you to let go and move on? How do you think you can do that?

• “The devil will convince you that obedience is a risk, but it’s never a risk to obey God.” Talk about a previous time or a current circumstance where you felt God calling you to do something, but you hesitated because it felt risky.

• “Sometimes, we end up not taking a step because we’re praying for clarity, but we need to be praying for the courage to obey.” Where in your life do you need courage to obey?

• Go Deeper: Original Language. Pastor Jabin briefly mentioned the original Hebrew word for “lamp” in Psalm 119:105. Let’s take a closer look:

  • “Lamp” The original word is נֵר (nēr). It refers to a portable oil lamp used in ancient Israel. It wasn't a bright torch that illuminated a great distance. Instead, it cast enough light to see the next few steps in front of you. Pastor Jabin said it was 4-5 lumens. It’s used throughout the Old Testament both literally and metaphorically.

    • Proverbs 6:23 – "For this command is a lamp..."

    • Proverbs 20:27 – "The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD..."

    • 2 Samuel 22:29 – "You are my lamp, O LORD..."

  • “Light” The original word is אוֹר (ʾôr). It’s a symbol that represents guidance, which is a metaphor we see throughout Scripture. It includes different types of illumination, including daylight, the sun and stars, lightning, and lamps, but it also serves as an image for God’s moral law guiding believers. 

    • Exodus 13:21 – The same word is used to describe the fire that led the Israelites at night.

    • Psalm 27:1 and Psalm 36:9 use the same word to describe God as light.

    • The word is also used in the last Scripture Pastor Jabin referenced, Proverbs 4:18: “'The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”

  • God shines light on our path to guide us, making the pairing of “lamp” (nēr) and “light” (ʾôr) in this verse effective. The lamp provides the physical means of illumination, while light represents God’s guidance itself. God's Word doesn't always reveal the entire journey. It provides enough light for the next step of obedience.

  • How does this information add depth to your understanding of this verse? And how does it change the impact of the sermon point: The longer you walk with God, it gets brighter and brighter.

Prayer Prompt 

Ask your eGroup if they have any prayer requests or praise reports they’d like to share, and include them in your closing prayer. 

Pray this prayer over your eGroup to close, and/or send it to them throughout the week to let them know you’re praying for them!  

Lord, I pray for courage for each person in this group. Life is full of decisions and I pray that each of us will make those decisions with the lens of faith. I pray that you will reveal to each of us what that next little step is that we need to take, and that we will have the courage to obey, knowing that obedience to You always leads to better. Amen.