Trust the Training

[Christ4Ever]

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? Hebrews 12:7 NLT

You might find yourself in difficult situations because of choices you've made. Your struggles could be due to the choices others make. But you might discover that hard days are God's best training ground.

Soldiers learn to trust their training. From boot camp to obeying orders, they don't always understand the reason for the watching and the waiting. However, there comes a time when all the training pays off.

Following Jesus means not dropping out. You're not being punished. You're being trained much like a parent trains a child. You may need to repeat certain steps before you really understand how to do what God is training you to do.

Trouble delivers education and an opportunity to draw close to the God who educates. You serve a God who said there would be trouble. You were saved by Jesus, who overcame trouble in this world (see John 16:33). But you often have to first overcome the resistance you have to His plan for your life.

Prayer: Lord, help me to see Your discipline as training and not punishment. You're approachable and compassionate, but I'll need Your training if I'm to move to the place where I'm following You. Help me to trust in the training.

 

[strike8echo]

Pain is the great educator. When it comes to suffering for refusal to follow God's instruction, few examples stand out more than that of Jonah. His obstinance toward God and his hatred toward the people of Nineveh cost him a drop over the side of a ship and three days in the belly of a fish, only to end up doing exactly what God told him to do, exactly the way it needed to be done at exactly the right time.

You cannot stop God's plan. You can't change it. You can't escape it. All you can do is choose how much more difficult you want to make your journey. The roads that branch off the straight and narrow way are painful, so save yourself the heartache and seek God's plan for you. He is not a God of confusion, but of truth.