Friday, January 1, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

In Hebrews again we are told that we too should endure hardship as discipline just as Jesus did.

Hebrews 12:7-11 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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.

Here we are told that the purpose of these trials is so that we can share in His holiness. The trials ultimately produce righteousness and peace within us as we turn to Him and His Word to guide us through these times. Note however that we must be “trained by it” for it to produce this effect in is. How then are we trained in it? For many of us, we are trained by repetition. How does a runner train for a race? He practices running, he strengthens his body, and he runs the course set for him over and over, trying to go faster each time. The same is true for us when we are “in training” with the Lord as our coach. The main difference is that our “practice” is done during this life time each time a similar circumstance comes along. So we practice how we should be reacting each time it happens. In the mean time we strengthen our souls by studying His Word and spending time with Him. Just as the runner is wanting to run his best to win the prize, so we too should be wanting to “live our best” to win the prize our Lord has set before us. That’s why “the prize” is there!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

What prize or crown is that Paul is desiring for himself? He tells us that in several passages but I’m only going to quote one here:

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

We have discussed this subject in other studies so I’m not going to go over it very much here. In case someone missed those studies, let me just say that our reward, our “prize” is to be ruling with Christ, judging even the angels, and many other wondrous things like that. What we will be doing during our lives in eternity depend on how well we run the race here.

Philippians 3:13-15 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

Paul tells us that we are not to focus on the past or on our failures, but rather to simply keep striving to do our best so that we can please our Lord and win the prize He has for us. When we go through these trials and suffering, we need to be saying something along these lines to ourselves and to our Father, “I want to please the Lord, I want to learn from this experience, (not to mention not wanting to have to repeat the lesson!) so please teach me how you would have me handle this situation and what fruit you would have me produce.” When we do that, the Lord is faithful and He will teach us and guide us so that we are trained and so that it will in fact produce the fruit of righteousness and peace within us. That fruit of righteousness and peace is how we become holy like He is holy. It is how we become more like Him every day. It is also how we can know for sure that we are abiding in Him instead of living in the world as the unsaved do. (we talked about this in our study of 1 John: The principles of all genuine fellowship with God )

Come and discuss this with us on Fresh Hope!