Anger toward God over life’s setbacks is said to be one of the primary reasons people don’t trust God. Maybe you know someone right now who is angry with God. Maybe you’re angry with God. A loved one dies young. A prayer goes unanswered. Wrongs go unpunished. Someone steals credit for something you did and is rewarded for it. He is never found out. Your reputation is questioned or even attacked and you can’t identify the source. Friends abandon you. You can’t find a job and you just seem to sink deeper in your hole. Why does God fail to see? Why does God refuse to hear? Why does God allow such despair? Suffering takes many forms. Your circumstances are unique so it often seems like you are the only one suffering, which makes it seem all the more unfair. Anger can be exacerbated when you feel like you’ve opened up to God and he has abandoned you. Anger can turn to bitterness and bitterness into hardness. That’s not a place you want to be. What can you do about it? How do you live a life of faith that doesn’t let you down?

Your view of God plays a big role in that. If you have a faulty view of God, then you’re likely to grow bitter when difficulties come. Hebrews shapes our faith – gives us a faith that can survive difficulties – by shaping our view of God. If you are to retain your faith, then you must see God above your circumstances.

Because God is truer than circumstances, we must obey in faith.

There are several misconceptions that the writer helps us to see in the life of Abraham and some other Old Testament characters: “test vs. punish,” “could vs. would,” and “real vs. figurative.”

Faith that looks beyond what is seen – Discussion Guide