In this message we began our series God on Trial by looking at the issue of Karma. Practically, many in our world live loosely by the rules of Karma, that you’ll get what’s coming to you. But that’s not how life works and when it doesn’t we often put God on Trial. Why do bad things happen to good people & bad people get away with stuff? Those questions have been asked for thousands of years & we looked at the life of Job who was righteous but lost everything and the struggle he and his friends had to reconcile what was happening to him with the idea of Karma. Yes, generally we do reap what we sow, but it’s more complicated than that. God is playing chess while we are playing checkers and He’s got a checkmate move that is bigger and better than Karma. It’s called: grace.

(1) Share about a time when someone “got what was coming to them”. How did that make you feel? Why?

(2) At the heart of Karma is “fairness”. Many grew up hearing “life isn’t fair”, but we still want it to be. What’s good and what’s bad about “fairness”?

(3) We like to make sense of things, which is why when Job went through all his pain, his friends were looking to make sense of it. Read Job 4:7-8, Job 11:14-17. What conclusions did they come to? Why?

(4) Things can be GENERALLY true, but not ALWAYS true. When we do good, good generally does happen. When we do bad, bad generally happens. But not always. Read Luke 13:4-5. What is Jesus saying?

(5) Galatians 6:7-10. How is this (or is it) different than Karma? What does this mean for how we live?

(6) “God is playing chess while we are playing checkers”. God calls Job on the carpet when Job accuses God. What is God saying to Job through these verses? (Job 38:1-13)

(7) How would you respond if God spoke the words in Job 38 to you? What does that mean for this larger issue of “fairness”, justice and karma?

(8) Grace > Karma. Why do you think this is true? What step of humility or trust do you need to take in your life and relationship with God?