Connecting Point: Hardship & Discipline

Our topics today, hardship and discipline, weave together, watch for them. Who doesn’t feel for an individual or, for that matter, a people enduring hardship and suffering? Perhaps you recall watching the movie classic The Grapes of Wrath, the translation of the John Steinbeck novel of the same name? Henry Fonda and his instantly recognizable voice—he was young when it was filmed. Discipline, on the other hand, has multiple connotations all depending upon the context. We view discipline negatively if it entails emotional and/or physical abuse. Then again, Meriam-Webster defines discipline in its positive meaning: “To train or develop by instruction and exercise, especially in self-control.”

Our view of God can be poorly tainted by individuals encountered in this life who are unjust, abusive, and evil. I’ve had close interactions with agnostics who attribute God as some angry being in the sky all due to an incorrect understanding of Biblical context and discipline. Hebrews 12:7-11 is a prime example:

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their fathers? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 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 spirits and live? They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order 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.”

In this context, discipline is tied to wholesome, Godly instruction and spiritual development in the believer’s life. God never treats his children in an abusive or harmful manner. It is fundamentally impossible for God to be evil. Certainly, life is full of negative and harmful experiences that God at times allows to happen, but that is conditioned on this side of the grave, and from it dawns human freedom. This is the view of all Christians that I know. Please don’t confuse another’s evil to be God’s intention or action.

Discipline in the positive form is intended to build a person up, to provide someone with the resources to improve in a specific area of life. Parents who function in a healthy manner provide instruction, guidance, and assurance for their children through proper discipline, even though they too are imperfect.

God, on the other hand, is 100% perfect. In fact, he even takes the failure of humanity and brings a diamond out of the rough. Case in point: Joseph (Genesis), despite all the dysfunction of this family, God took hardship and turned the situation into a regional relief effort, improving tens of thousands. Joseph learned to submit his life to honoring God and his purposes, even when evil or injustice was used against him.

A “harvest of righteousness” can be a by-product of any of our calamities when we purposely choose to honor God. Oswald Chambers astutely said, “If through a broken heart, God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”

Adopt the view that God is always at work; peace will find a way in the middle of hardship.