The Forming Life: Choosing Formation Over Escape
Desired Takeaway
When life doesn’t go as planned, God invites us not to escape but to be formed. True spiritual maturity grows when we bring our feelings, desires, and trust to God in prayer and allow Him to shape us in the midst of difficulty.
Icebreaker
If you had to choose and receive only one of the following: control, comfort, or adventure—which would you pick and why?
1. Lean In
When something doesn’t go your way—whether big or small—what’s your default response? Escape? Fix? Freeze? Ignore? Numb? Why do you think that is?
2. Look Down
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7–12 Paul describes being “pressed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down”—but not destroyed.
What stands out to you in Paul’s description of hardship and its purpose?
How does this passage challenge or affirm your understanding of spiritual maturity?
3. Look Out
Where do you see our culture encouraging “the managed life” or “the escape life” when pain shows up? How might this shape the way people deal with disappointment?
4. Look In
Think of a current or recent challenge in your life.
How are you tempted to control or escape it?
What would it look like for you to let God form you through it instead?
Which is hardest for you in prayer: giving God your feelings, your desires, or your trust? Why?
5. Live It Out
Imagine a church community full of people who choose formation over escape.
How would it look different from the culture around it?
How would it impact the way people handle disappointment, grief, or conflict?
Optional Exercises for the Week
Give God your desires
Give God your trust
Prayer Prompt
“Father, we often want quick fixes or an easy way out. But you are the potter, and we are the clay. Teach us to trust you in the pressing, the shaping, and the waiting. Help us bring you our true selves—our sorrow, our longing, and our trust. Make us more like Jesus. Amen.”
When life doesn’t go as planned, God invites us not to escape but to be formed. True spiritual maturity grows when we bring our feelings, desires, and trust to God in prayer and allow Him to shape us in the midst of difficulty.
Icebreaker
If you had to choose and receive only one of the following: control, comfort, or adventure—which would you pick and why?
1. Lean In
When something doesn’t go your way—whether big or small—what’s your default response? Escape? Fix? Freeze? Ignore? Numb? Why do you think that is?
2. Look Down
Read: 2 Corinthians 4:7–12 Paul describes being “pressed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down”—but not destroyed.
What stands out to you in Paul’s description of hardship and its purpose?
How does this passage challenge or affirm your understanding of spiritual maturity?
3. Look Out
Where do you see our culture encouraging “the managed life” or “the escape life” when pain shows up? How might this shape the way people deal with disappointment?
4. Look In
Think of a current or recent challenge in your life.
How are you tempted to control or escape it?
What would it look like for you to let God form you through it instead?
Which is hardest for you in prayer: giving God your feelings, your desires, or your trust? Why?
5. Live It Out
Imagine a church community full of people who choose formation over escape.
How would it look different from the culture around it?
How would it impact the way people handle disappointment, grief, or conflict?
Optional Exercises for the Week
- Pray Like Jesus: Set aside 10–15 minutes each day this week to pray through one hard area in your life using Jesus’ model:
Give God your desires
Give God your trust
- Clay in His Hands: Journal about a recent or ongoing disappointment. Then write down this question: “How is God shaping me through this?” Revisit your answer each day and ask God to reveal more.
- Scripture Memory: Memorize Isaiah 64:8 or James 1:2–4. Reflect daily on how these verses reshape your perspective on pain and growth.
Prayer Prompt
“Father, we often want quick fixes or an easy way out. But you are the potter, and we are the clay. Teach us to trust you in the pressing, the shaping, and the waiting. Help us bring you our true selves—our sorrow, our longing, and our trust. Make us more like Jesus. Amen.”