Training for the Future
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children . . .God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12: 7,11)
Hard times, difficult days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years are God’s way of training and preparing us for future seasons of life. That’s is precisely what the author of Hebrews is telling us in this passage. When we encounter difficult seasons of life, we should see those seasons as times of training. That’s what is meant by the word “discipline”.
Discipline is not punishment; it is preparation. That doesn’t make it easy. No discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful. But it’s a pain that results in gain. Notice the results of this painful discipline in our lives. It produces a harvest. Notice what that harvest is: righteousness and peace.
What is righteousness? Simply put, it is right living. The best life. Abundant life. Joyful life. God’s life.
What is peace? It is the tranquility of heart, mind, and spirit. Instead of being tossed to and fro by the howling winds of circumstances and the anxiety they often bring into our lives, we are calm, unflustered, unhurried, at home in our own skin.
God loves you and me too much to allow us to become spiritual couch potatoes. Like it or not, if you are a child of God, he is going to enroll you in some spiritual training courses. Don’t fight it. Embrace what God is doing in your life and reap the harvest that he has planned for you.
Lord, these are difficult days for me, but I thank you that they are days of preparation. My heart overflows with gratitude to think that you love me too much to let me go untrained and unproductive in the life you have planned for me. Thank you, Lord, for the right living and peace that is soon to follow in my life. In Jesus Name, Amen.
In Christ,
Dan