Thoughts for another day

June 27, 2013.

Today's verse: Heb. 12:11. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (NRSV)

(Pls. read the above before you read further.  Thanks)

God is a keen task Master and He disciplines the one He chooses so the person may fall in line with His ways, else he lose his way and steer away from God. That’s why many people in the renewal or those who have come close to God are initially and then at every stage of growth are led to such discipline that at times they want to give up.  But as the Bible says, with every trial, God also gives the Grace to bear the trial and does not allow the person to bend.

I know of many brothers and sisters who are suddenly in the midst of bliss plunged into a crisis and they really can’t see any reason for the crisis; for one might say, it just happens and there was no way you could avoid it.  Very recently, a Christian brother, an ardent servant of the Lord had a minor crisis in terms of persecution and just when he was getting out of it, another followed it which is of a more serious nature for it concerns custodianship of funds, which funds this brother, through no fault of his, literally lost because of the unscrupulousness of the person he gave it to, in exchange for a piece of land on which this brother could build a home for destitute girls.

Both these incidents have made the brother’s heart a little weaker I guess, for a person walking in God’s ways is usually soft and in peace; and rarely experiences these kinds of things.  But this brother is now shaken.  It’s very easy for us to console him and say, ‘Don’t worry brother, God will take care.’ And we’ll even mean it for we know God does it and we also know God will do it for him.  But at the moment of trouble, it’s extremely difficult to keep the faith.  Yet, we know that discipline is good for us and it will cleanse us of the dirt of the world and keep us before Him; and eventually the fruit of righteousness will burst from within us even as we stay focused on our God-given task and continue to trust Him completely.  Eventually it must happen, yea, I’ll say that again, it must happen that God will raise us up and lift us high, shining in our new coats, having passed the test.