{"id":290,"date":"2009-11-13T21:00:32","date_gmt":"2009-11-14T02:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/?p=290"},"modified":"2009-11-13T21:00:32","modified_gmt":"2009-11-14T02:00:32","slug":"pain-and-discipline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.desiringgodchurch.org\/web\/2009\/11\/13\/pain-and-discipline\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain and Discipline"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Last Sunday’s sermon looked in part at Hebrews 12:3-11, which compares the discipline and training that God brings in to our lives to a father disciplining his children. I see in those verses an implicit dialogue with a reader who keeps raising objections to the idea. Here is an expanded paraphrase of those verses, trying to bring out the key points – Coty]<\/em><\/p>\n

Reader:<\/strong>
\nI am really tired. I\u2019ve been fighting this battle with sin so long! I can\u2019t keep fighting any longer. I\u2019m worn out! God can\u2019t possibly expect me to bear up under all this!<\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong>
\nIn your contest with sin, are you growing weary? Does the contest seem too tough? Then, hey, listen: I have two things to say to you:
\nFirst: Have you died yet? Jesus struggled all the way to death. He toughed it out to a much greater extent than you. Remember that.
\nSecond: Have you forgotten the scriptural encouragement that calls you sons? God calls you His little children! Listen to what Proverbs 3:11-12 says:
\nMy son! Don\u2019t shrug off the Lord\u2019s discipline, or get all depressed about it. It\u2019s a sign of His love! A sign of your adoption!
\nFurthermore, the rest of Proverbs 3 makes clear that there are tremendous benefits to staying on God\u2019s path, even when it seems challenging and the alternative path seems so easy.
\nSo with all that in mind, here is my main exhortation: Endure hardship as instruction and training. That is: See every pain, every sorrow in your life as God\u2019s way of molding you into what He wants you to be.
\nAnd I do mean every pain. Pain that is the result of your sin. Pain that is the result of someone else\u2019s sin. Pain that results from natural disasters.
\nGod is in control. He is sovereign. You are His child. He is making you into His likeness. He is getting rid of your natural ignorance, your natural selfishness, the way you are easily deceived and distracted. He is training you, like Jesus, to be patient in suffering. You are a little child. Your Daddy is training you, strengthening you, stretching you, maturing you.
\nSo when you suffer, trust Him! He is bringing His work in you to completion! Always remember that!<\/p>\n

Reader:<\/strong>
\nYou tell me I\u2019m God\u2019s child. But I sure don\u2019t feel loved like a child when God sends pain! Instead, I feel abandoned by Him!<\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong>
\nHave you ever heard of a son who was never disciplined? All sons are disciplined! If you don\u2019t experience discipline: Guess what? You\u2019re not sons! Now, there is a bit of a benefit from not being a son: You then don\u2019t have to endure discipline! But, there\u2019s a big trade-off: Neither do you have the rights and privileges of being a son. So realize this: Being disciplined is sign of sonship! It\u2019s a privilege! It shows you are in the family! Jesus was a son \u2013 and He suffered. Therefore, feeling abandoned because of discipline gets the truth completely backwards.<\/p>\n

Reader:<\/strong>
\nWell . . . I\u2019m not sure how to answer that. But, listen: I don\u2019t like this picture of God you\u2019re painting. A God who sends pain! This God doesn\u2019t match my conception of what He should be! If He loved me, He would guard me from pain; He wouldn\u2019t make me go through it. How can I worship a God like that?<\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong>
\nMy friend, slow down, listen, and think clearly. You\u2019re really not making any sense.
\nWe routinely put up with pain in our earthly lives \u2013 and love and respect those who bring that pain upon us. We could go back to the athletic imagery I\u2019ve used before \u2013 every coach brings pain upon his runners, and the best coaches make their runners go through considerable pain! \u2013 but instead, let\u2019s stick to the image of a little child with his father:
\nWhen your fallible earthly fathers disciplined you as they thought best \u2013 in order to make you a better person in this life \u2013 didn\u2019t you respect them for it? Even though they often erred, and punished you wrongly? How much more should you respect your spiritual, heavenly Father! How much more should you listen to His instruction and submit to His discipline! He is guiding you to the path of life! (Proverbs 4:13) All His discipline is unquestionably for our good! He is training us to become like Him \u2013 that is, holy.
\nSo, you see, to say, \u201cI\u2019m not going to worship a God who sends pain,\u201d is like a two-year-old saying, \u201cI\u2019m not going to love a Daddy who gives spankings.\u201d That\u2019s pure foolishness. Indeed, to say that proves that you need discipline and training.<\/p>\n

Reader:<\/strong>
\nOK. I can agree intellectually that God must discipline us to train us to become like Him, and that I should respect Him for doing that. But, did you hear me? This is painful! This is horrible! This really hurts!<\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s true of all discipline, my friend. Think back to when you were a little child. When you received a spanking, it hurt, didn\u2019t it? That\u2019s the whole idea! It was supposed to hurt. All discipline at the moment seems to increase our sorrow. It does not seem to increase our joy. But in the end it produces a harvest of righteousness. God is so wise that in the end His discipline molds us into Christ\u2019s likeness \u2013 so we become what God intends us to be.
\nSo I exhort you: Endure hardship as discipline. Don\u2019t feel abandoned when you\u2019re in pain \u2013 for discipline is a sign of God\u2019s love. Don\u2019t put yourself above God, judging what He should and shouldn\u2019t do \u2013 for a child respects his father, even when he doesn\u2019t understand his father, even when the father\u2019s discipline hurts. And don\u2019t focus on your present pain \u2013 instead, like Jesus, focus on the joy set before you. Like Him, run the race! Power down that straightaway towards the finish line, towards your Savior, towards Jesus! Don\u2019t be diverted from the race! Right now, you\u2019re weak \u2013 indeed, virtually lame. Heal that weakness by God\u2019s grace and by His training! And run!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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