Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
Mary repeatedly paired commands with promises (“Go… and ‘I am with you’; ‘Come to me’… and ‘I will give you rest’”); what does this teaching suggest about obedience and assurance, and how does it challenge the idea that grace minimizes the urgency of costly obedience?
Another way to ask: Mary says God often gives a command with a promise, like “Go… I am with you.” What does that teach about obeying God with confidence, and how does it challenge the idea that grace makes costly obedience less urgent?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Mary’s pattern suggests God’s promises are meant to empower obedience, not replace it; assurance (“I am with you,” “I will give you rest”) is tied to responding to Jesus’ command (“go,” “come”). Her experience presents grace as strengthening costly obedience rather than making it optional.
- She says Jesus’ words include “a promise and a command”: “We should go… but then He says, ‘I am with you always.’”
- She learned to “truly trust the promises of God while I obey His commands.”
- Regarding burden and trauma, she cites Matthew 11: “Come to me… all you who labor… and I will give you rest,” calling it again “a command, and then there’s a promise.”
- She admits obedience is not risk-free: she didn’t come because it was safe; fear and uncertainty were real.
- She learned practical trust through gratitude in uncertainty: “Thank you, God, for right now… I know that you will be with me even when things don’t turn out like I want them to.”