A few years ago a TV network news program did a five-night feature on evangelicals. I just had to watch and find out what they think about me and my friends. As you might guess, they totally didn’t get us. On Thursday night, they did a feature on “the role of corporal punishment in childrearing.” Right—spanking. So they got this “expert” on childrearing that said, “Nothing good could ever come from causing a child pain.”
Now I’m aware and sensitive to the horrors of child abuse. But step away from the excess and the evil and consider that statement in its rawest form: “Nothing good could ever come from pain.” Really? Nothing? Like the birth of a child, or the renewal of a forest after a fire, or the signal that something is badly wrong in my health and needs to be attended to?
No good from pain? What about the salvation of mankind?
Fact: Pain is often a central part of God’s purpose in this world. God allows and even causes pain in our lives. It’s one of the tools He uses regularly to get stubborn sheep to greener pasture.
I’m fond of saying that “God’s love is not a pampering love; God’s love is a perfecting love.” God doesn’t say, “Here, Billy. Have some more cupcakes. Take the one with the extra icing.” That’s not God. Your grandma, maybe, but not God.
Are you saying that God spanks His children? Yes, He does. The “expert” on the news program back-pedaled and said God only disciplined His children in the Old Testament. Well, welcome to Hebrews 12:6—“whom the Lord loves He disciplines”.
For real, God spanks His children. He lifts the paddle and applies it with force in hope that the pain will bring us to an awareness of His deeper purposes. When He saved us, He started a process that He will continue till the day we die. Salvation is just the beginning. The only reason you’re still here is because God is working on you. When His work’s done, it’s heaven for you!
Have You Forgotten?
Hebrews 12:5 asks a funny question: “Have you forgotten the exhortation . . . ?” In other words, “Have you drawn a blank?” “Where have you been?” If you look in your Bible, you see that part of the verse is indented, signaling that this is a quote from the Old Testament; Proverbs 3:11, 12 to be exact. Interestingly, this is among the most frequently quoted Old Testament passages in the New Testament. Over and over, New Testament authors quote this portion of Proverbs 3. No wonder then that the author of Hebrews asked, “Have you forgotten?” The writer is asking, “How could you not know this? This is critical information that cannot be neglected.”
And here’s the instruction: “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord” (v. 5b). Don’t think lightly of what God is doing. Go ahead and do some heavy thinking. A contrasting word is used nearby in Hebrews 12:2 in the familiar verse, “Looking to Jesus . . . who . . . endured the cross, despising the shame.” The word despising is an antonym in the original language for the word translated here as “regarding lightly.” Jesus despised the shame of the cross—He didn’t regard it lightly. We can certainly be tempted toward shame in our trials, but we have Jesus’ example to help us endure.
When God moves toward you to make some changes in your conduct and character, do not be casual or indifferent about His approach. Don’t be sarcastic or blasé, As if it really mattered, or I’m getting kind of weary of this, or I don’t think God really knows my limits, or the manifold number of nonsensical ways we communicate to God that we don’t appreciate what He’s doing in our lives. He’s God! He’s a Committee of One. He doesn’t check with anybody, and He knows what He’s doing.
Don’t take His work in your life lightly. Don’t be flippant or casual or indifferent when trials come your way. If they’re not already here, they are coming.
As a pastor, I’ve seen the full scope of human hardship. No matter which part of those painful hardships is yours this moment, you cannot despise or regard lightly what the Lord is doing.
“Nor be weary when reproved by Him.” The word reproved sometimes means “to convict.” The tone is intense, even harsh. When the goal is character transformation, God doesn’t move toward you with kid gloves. He’s coming in hard. He’s taking it strong to the hole. You don’t have to guess that He’s around. Being reproved by Him is an intense thing; but we are not to be wearied by it as though nothing good was ahead. Over and over the Bible connects weariness and losing heart. When we are exhorted not to be weary, it is as if to say, “Don’t get down about this. God has a plan, so keep looking up and expecting something good to come from this.”
When God comes toward you with something that makes life hard, don’t get down and give up . . . because “the Lord disciplines the one He loves.”
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