Hebrews 12:4-11 The Message
4-11 In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big-time, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
I read the other day on my social media feed that according to a popular legend, Saint Teresa of Avila was riding one day when something startled her horse.
She was thrown to the ground, where she landed hard in a mud puddle.
Then she asked God the question we have been reflecting on for the past few days: “Why did this happen, Lord?”
Apparently she heard God respond saying, “This is how I treat all my friends.”
Not satisfied, Saint Teresa apparently replied, “Then, Lord, it is not surprising that you have so few.”
As much as this statement may be true or apocryphal, we might first be taken aback by Saint Teresa’s apparently snarky response to the Lord.
But her words point to a serious question which has been on humanity’s mind:
Why do those who are friends with God suffer?
It may sound contradictory, but today’s Bible reading from the sermon to the Hebrews says that the painful discipline we sometimes receive from or God is a sign of His Fatherly love for His Children.
In verse 11 we read about God’s Children being “trained” by God’s discipline.
Borrowing from the illustration of athletic training, the writer of Hebrews is suggesting Christians are in a gym where our fitness instructor is God himself.
Anyone who works out for an extended period of time on any gym equipment in any exercise facility knows that strain of “getting in shape” physical activity.
These days of Advent when our spiritual focus is meant to be our “Preparation for the second Coming of the Lord,” our move towards renewal, our spiritual life, can be just as strenuous, as especially when we are in disciplined training.
If God has rebuked you, take heart toy are in His discipline training program.
You are in God’s gymnasium.
He has designed a fitness program specifically for you.
A weight loss program, dropping the weight from your shoulders, from your “love handles” from your hips and midline, which as always come to that place of rest on your backside – all the “weight” coming from the burden of your sins.
He knows exactly what areas of your life need refining, toning, strengthening.
He is training your hands and your heart for His greater service in his kingdom.
What’s the Point of “Getting into Shape” Suffering?
Hebrews 12:7-11 New Living Translation
7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?[a]
10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
Scriptures tell us that for forty years, God disciplined the Hebrew people in the wilderness for constant grumbling, and severe distrust from making a gold calf.
In those forty years, the Hebrew suffered much hardship from a severe lack of food and a lack of water, new clothing and sturdy shelters against the weather.
But what about the purpose of God disciplining His Children in the wilderness?
Suffering does not necessarily lead us into a deeper relationship with God.
Prolonged trials can easily tempt us to quickly give in to rebellion and distrust.
But when we are being prepared by the Holy Spirit to humbly bow under God’s sovereign purposes, He enables us to joyfully endure our suffering to the end.
James 1:2-4 New Living Translation
Faith and Endurance
2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
The Bible clearly teaches that our Father God is in control over all of our lives—during the blessings and the trials.
For example, in Job 1 we find Satan slandering Job, accusing him of loving God solely because of the blessings he has enjoyed (Job 1:9-10 NLT).
9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!
In response, God commands Satan, “All that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand” (v 12).
God’s sovereign rule extended over Job’s affliction and Satan’s jurisdiction.
What then can we say with biblical certainty concerning the purposes of God in our our own disciplining, in our own time of suffering inside God’s gymnasium?
First, God uses hardship in our lives to assure us of our sonship.
The experiences of discipline which He Himself brings into our lives prove us to be His true sons and daughters: “If you are left without discipline … then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”
Second, God uses trials to develop our dependence on Him.
Apostle Paul realized that it was “to keep me from becoming conceited” that “a thorn was given me in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7).
2 Corinthians 12:6-10 New Living Translation
6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Undisciplined Pride can lead us to a not so dignified meltdown, a total downfall.
God therefore may mercifully anoint and ordain our experiences of deep pain in order to instill in us that sense of depending on Him, gaining faith and strength.
That humility is the soil in which all the seeds of His grace grow to maturity.
Third, God uses suffering to keep us on track spiritually.
It’s easy to wander when everything is going smoothly.
But have you noticed how your prayer life can change with even one visit to the spine doctor, or the cardiac surgeon or the oncologist or how our desire to call out to God can be strengthened by the shadow of death looming on the horizon?
The psalmist noted this tendency when he confessed, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (Psalm 119:67).
As God’s children, we can live with the blessed assurance, confidence, that our heavenly Father knows exactly what is best and is in absolute sovereign control.
When the present feels overwhelming and the days ahead seem unsure, you and I can max trust there is His purpose, hidden though it may be, we can each sing:
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control:
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed his own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul;
It is well, it is well with my soul.[1]
1 Horatio Gates Spafford, “It Is Well With My Soul” (1873).
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord, sometimes it is too hard to see any connection between our pain and your love. Fill us with your strength so we can endure our hardship and bring comfort to others.
Psalm 23King James Version
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 