Trained By Pain

-May 21, 2022-

Good morning, happy Saturday,

“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

(Hebrews 12:11).

Being chastened by God is good for us and shows us that God is our Father and that He loves us so much as to discipline us for our good. There are times He needs to correct us. Perhaps we have done something or said something wrong, and God uses pain, sorrow, trouble, and affliction to get our attention. We must search our hearts to know what the Lord is showing us. God never enjoys seeing us in pain, but He knows it is necessary in our lives.

The key to our verse is the word “afterward.” Afterwards, after the pain of chastening, it yields good results for us, called the “peaceable fruit of righteousness.” It hurts during the process, it is not joyful at the time. God takes the long view of His work of chastening, and so should we. He won’t allow the pain any longer that necessary. Parents often say when disciplining their children, “This is going to hurt me more than you.” Kids can never understand this until a future day when they must discipline their own kids.

Hebrews 12:6 says, “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” The results are for our profit that we may share His holiness. Pain is gain, when we learn from it. Lessons learned through pain is where we grow most.

If we don’t learn from our chastening, God may have to take more severe measures to get our attention. So, let us learn from our chastening. The peaceable fruit of righteousness will be sweet.

Have a blessed day from the pain to the gain. Stay safe and healthy.

Learning from our loving Heavenly Father,

Dean