Break the ice. Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon?

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Read the following verses aloud with the group.

Proverbs 15:13
A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.

Proverbs 18:14
A person’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?

Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

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Discuss the text. In Proverbs there is a condition of the human soul that is described as a crushed spirit. The crushed in spirit are not a type of fool; they are the wounded. Wounds don’t go away on their own, and wounds that are not paid attention to may come out of our lives as foolishness. That is a difficult truth, but there is another, more beautiful truth. Our Christian faith is not faith that God will rescue us from suffering, but rather faith that God is with us in suffering—and uses that experience in a redemptive way. We hold onto the gospel and resurrection hope of Jesus Christ. We trust God to be near and save the crushed in spirit.

1. What needs to be present in someone’s life for their wounds to be healed?
2. Describe a time when you were crushed in spirit (grief, sickness or relational suffering). Who was a good friend to you? What made that friend’s words meaningful to you?
3. When have you felt God’s nearness most clearly? (During a season of joy or sorrow?)
4. What attribute of God do you cling to most often, especially when suffering?
5. Do you currently feel crushed in spirit? How can our home group care for you?

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Home Group Focus: Fixed-hour prayer The wounded need good friends, good words and good news. Ask God to make you a good friend who has good words that are rooted in good news. Thank God for one of your most meaningful friendships in your fixed moments of prayer—during home group and each day this week.