Big Idea: Your life will be far more impacted by your faithfulness than by your hardships.

When life is hard, God wants to grow your faithfulness.

            2 Samuel 2:4, 8-9

When does this get easier?

            2 Samuel 2:14, 22-23a

God, if you’re in this, why is it so hard?

            2 Samuel 3:12, 21, 28

If I’m doing the right thing, shouldn’t it be easier?

            Deuteronomy 17:17

Message Questions

We’re in a year-long journey through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, tracing the rise, reign, and legacy of Israel’s most famous king. We’ll see the story of how God works through real people with real flaws to accomplish his purposes. This week we are in 2 Samuel 2-4, and the big idea is: Your life will be far more impacted by your faithfulness than by your hardships. 

Use these questions to discuss the message from Sunday, focusing on how you can grow as an everyday follower of Jesus and how you can go accomplish what Jesus calls you to do.

1. Have someone read 2 Samuel 2:1, 4, 8–9. After the death of Saul, David finally returns to Judah and is anointed king, but instead of the "happily ever after" he might have expected, he finds the kingdom divided and a rival king established. Why is it so tempting to think that following God’s "Go" should lead to an immediate end to our hardships, and how does David’s initial inquiry of the Lord show a heart set on faithfulness regardless of the outcome?
2. Have someone read 2 Samuel 2:22–23 and 3:28. The conflict between the houses of David and Saul becomes deeply personal when Abner kills Joab’s brother, Asahel, leading to a cycle of vengeance. How does David’s later declaration of innocence concerning Abner’s blood demonstrate the "better way" of leadership even when his own military commanders were choosing the path of violence?
3. Have someone read 2 Samuel 3:12, 21 and Deuteronomy 17:17. While David is waiting for God to unite the kingdom, we see a list of his many wives and sons. Considering that Deuteronomy strictly warned kings against acquiring many wives, how does this reveal an area where David chose compromise over faithfulness, and what does this teach us about how our small "unfaithful" choices can impact our lives just as much as our hardships?
4. The sermon’s big idea is that your life will be far more impacted by your faithfulness than by your hardships. What is a current hardship in your life that makes it difficult to stay faithful to God’s standards, and how can you grow in trusting that God is more concerned with your character than with making your path "easier"?
5. Have someone read Romans 8:18. Since the glory revealed to us in Christ far outweighs our present sufferings, how can you go and encourage a fellow believer this week who is discouraged by a lack of "easy" results in their ministry or family life, pointing them back to the value of long-term faithfulness?