Been Through It

Objective
Students will be shown how to persevere with their faith through life’s trials. Students often give up hope, suffer in solitude, and think there will never be redemptive moments ahead. We must have hope, share our struggles, and see that a new day is about to dawn.

Warm Up
Go around the room and have a few people share—keep it to about 6-8 depending on the group size.

Make sure to share something yourself first to set the tone and help everyone feel comfortable opening up.

• What do you fear the most and why?
• What do you protect the most and why?
• When facing a tough situation, what helps you keep going?
• Who do you turn to when life gets hard, and why?
• Have you ever felt like giving up? What helped you push through?
• What’s a time when you saw some good come out of a difficult moment?

Transition
We’re all going to be Martha for a moment. Remember her? The hardworking sister in the Biblical account of Martha and Mary. We’re back in their hometown of Bethany and their brother, Lazarus, has just died.

Jesus is our close personal friend and He’s nowhere to be found. How could this have happened? How could our brother just die and Jesus didn’t save him?

The Song
Play “Been Through It” by TobyMac.

• What parts of the song stood out to you the most? Why?
• How does this song relate to the struggles and trials you’ve faced?
• When you’re struggling, do you tend to isolate yourself or reach out for help?
• Why is community important when going through trials?

Transition
So, Martha’s been through it. Some of you may have been through it. And as bad as our “stuff” can seem, I can almost guarantee that someone in the world has it worse than we do. Let’s see how Martha’s going through it went by turning to John 11.

Bible Study
Read John 11:1-27

• Share about a time when you have been through it.
• What was your prayer to God during that time? Were you patient? Were you hoping for a miracle?
• What does this passage reveal to us about God’s timing versus our human timing? (Martha wanted her brother healed before his death, but Jesus had to use this “dark valley” to glorify God.)
• Have you ever felt like Martha (verse 21)– blaming God when things didn’t go how you wanted?
• How did Jesus handle this situation? Was He panicked? Overwhelmed? Frustrated?
• Imagine hearing Jesus’ words (verse 24) right after losing someone you love. How do you think you’d react?
• When we go through dark times, how can we hold onto that same kind of faith?
• How can we encourage family and friends when they’re struggling?
• How do we surrender our plans and trust God, even when we don’t understand?

Now let’s talk about how we share our own stories. Your testimony might be the only glimpse of hope someone else sees in their struggles. Pair up and brainstorm ways you can witness to someone who is hurting.
Three things we can learn from this passage about helping others:

1. Meet people where they are.
   Jesus didn’t judge or rebuke Martha—He comforted her.
2. Let them ask hard questions.
   It’s okay if they blame or doubt. Just gently point them back to God’s bigger plan.
3. Walk with them through the pain.
   Even though Jesus knew the ending, He still wept with Mary and Martha. He felt their pain and stood with them in their grief.

Wrap Up
Like the song says, “this old world can be so hard, yeah I know I’ve been through it but I know you’ve been with me through it all.”

So, we have to have hope. We have to hold on. We have to pray and be there for each other. And no matter the dark valleys in life, know that we are never alone.

• Your story has power. Who in your life needs to hear it?

Playlist
This song is featured on “The Linc: Faith Within Trials” Spotify playlist – which is the perfect way to remind your students what you’ve taught them in this session. To share it with them, click the live link on the web version of this study.