Enduring Hardship
How do you best learn things?
Verse of the Day
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?”
Today’s Devotional
When my biological daughter was a baby, a group of young couples (all with very young children) took a parenting class together. It was very interesting. We all had different backgrounds with how each of us was raised, and we all had different ideas about parenting. In the course, one of the things that stood out to me was how to give discipline and consequences to young children. There was to be no anger, instead we were instructed to be sad about our child’s bad choices and the consequences that followed. I will admit that this was difficult for me to do, but when I could give discipline with no anger, the results were much more in line with the intended purpose of discipline.
What is the purpose of disciplining our children? We give consequences and discipline in order to teach our children how to behave in a way that shows respect for themselves, God, and others. The goal is that this will mold their character. We hope to help guide them into becoming adults of integrity.
Isn’t God doing the same thing with us?
I don’t know how to tell when a hardship in my life is divine discipline or a product of a broken world. And I’m not sure if it matters. Today’s verse tells me to look at each difficulty and endure it. Not complain through it. Not whine to everyone about what I’m going through. Instead, I am invited to look at my difficult circumstances and ask God what He would like me to learn from each one. Because He loves me, He wants me to learn from every experience, whether good or bad.
We get to choose to recognize that God loves each one of us enough to call us His own. And in being His, He loves us enough to help us learn. He wants us to mold our character. He wants us to become people of integrity.
I learn by making mistakes. When I get things wrong, it’s uncomfortable. So I want to learn how to do things differently next time. Perhaps divine discipline exists so that we will learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others.
We can choose to see this life as drudgery, or we can look at our difficulties and ask to be taught by them. God loves you enough to call you His child. His discipline is pure. He never has to remind Himself not to be angry with you. He simply wants the best for you. We cannot be our best selves without hardships, endurance, and discipline.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What are your current hardships?
Ask God what He would like you to learn from each of your current difficulties?
How does God’s love for you and His desire for you to be your best self shape the way you see your circumstances?
If God has shown you what He wants you to learn, how can you put that into practice today? If you don’t know, ask Him.