Hebrews 12:4-13 (HCSB)
In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:
My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly
or faint when you are reproved by Him,
for the Lord disciplines the one He loves
and punishes every son He receives.
Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.
The Jewish Christians whom the writer of Hebrews is addressing were not being actively persecuted to the point that they were being physically harmed. Their temptation to turn back to Judaism was being fueled by the bad opinion of them expressed by their family members and friends. But even that low level of “persecution” was making some believe that a return to Judaism, turning away from Jesus, was preferable
But the writer goes a step further. Rather than seeing problems, challenges and even persecutions as signs that something has gone wrong, or as challenges to be solved or eliminated, the writer encourages his readers to see them as things that God allows into their lives, things designed to mold and shape them, things that God intends to use to help them grow to maturity, and thus things to be embraced, not avoided.
Admittedly, this was (and still is) a viewpoint that is hard for many Christians to grasp. After all, they reason, if God is supposed to be a loving father, how could He allow hard things into our lives? How could He purposefully allow us to be mistreated, shunned, and persecuted?
So, the writer pulls out an example from everyday life, our earthly fathers, as a kind of parable to help us to see the issue more clearly. Everyone who has a loving father is disciplined by them. But that discipline, even though it is painful at the time, is not designed to harm us or discourage us. It is designed to correct us, to strengthen us, to teach us, and to better equip us for the challenges we will face in life.
A father who never disciplines his children is not the most loving father, but the least loving. He is the most disconnected father, not caring how his children grow, or how they will turn out as adults.
Drawing the parallel, the writer points out that the trials and sufferings that God allows into the lives of His people are not signs of a lack of love, but the exact opposite: signs that he is actively working to grow and mature those whom He truly loves. Thus, sufferings and trials are not signs that a person is on the wrong path. And they are not things that should be avoided. Instead, they should be embraced and used to help us grow stronger in our faith, to increase our spiritual stamina, and to improve our power to stand firm.
Father, this is definitely a very different way of seeing things. I myself was taught early on that if someone was in the center of Your will, everything would go smoothly and there would be no problems, no pain and no complications. The corollary, of course, is that if we experience any of those difficult things, it signifies that we are outside Your good will. But as the writer points out, that “theology” ignores the nearly universal experience of the great saints throughout history, as well as the warning and promise of Jesus in John 16: 33: “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” How much better, more appropriate, and more keeping with Your word it is to understand that any suffering You allow to touch the lives of those who are in the center of Your will is intended for our good, to strengthen us, to mold and shape us, and to help us to grow more Christlike, and thus help us to embrace those “disciplines” and walk through them with you. Thank you, Lord, for this encouragement. Amen.