Hebrews 12:7-11: Training through Trial

"It is for discipline that you have to endure." Hebrews 12:7a

Every runner knows that you only get better at running when you work hard. Every swimmer knows that you only get better at swimming when you work hard. Every student knows that you only get smarter when you work hard. But for some reason, when it comes to life, we always want the easy way out. We want the growth, but we don't want the hurt. But both life and scripture tell us that that's simply not how it works.

In Hebrews 12, the LORD gives us some practical instruction on discipline. In our modern-day context, the term "discipline" usually has a negative connotation (You get "disciplined" because you do something wrong.). However, though the term in the original Greek can have a negative connotation, it does not have to. The Greek word for "discipline" means "the act of providing guidance for responsible living; training or education." Thus, when we speak of the term "discipline" this morning as the LORD uses it in Hebrews 12, think more of the term "training" than of "retribution."

Many principles are given concerning the LORD's discipline in these short verses. I'd like to highlight four this morning, as I think they will benefit us all.

Firstly, discipline is accomplished by means of endurance (Hebrews 12:7). In other words, as it is often said, "the only way out is through." The author of Hebrews says it plainly: "It is for discipline that you must endure." The only way to get through our trials and learn from them is to endure. If we do not persevere, we will not pass the test, and we will not learn. This is both discouraging and encouraging at the same time. On the discouraging side, this means that there is no "cheat code" to get through difficult times in life. The only way out is through. But on the encouraging side, this gives us a simple formula for success: endurance! If we trust in the LORD in our trials and do not give way to sinful means to cope our way through them, we have succeeded. Though it may take weeks or even months to endure our trials, this is the simple attitude that God calls us to, and we must seek to obtain it.

Secondly, discipline shows us God's love for us as his children (12:7b-9). Parents who truly love their children do the work to discipline them, that their kids might grow up and be Godly men and women. On the other hand, parents who do not care about their children neglect disciplining them, allowing them to do whatever they desire without restraint. However, God is a truly good Father, and he shows his love for us in his discipline. When trials come our way, we often desire to lash out against God and tell him that his way for our lives is not best. But a faithful Christians turns to God in his trials and thanks the Lord for giving him a means by which he might grow. Faithful Christians turn to God in their trials and thank the Lord for disciplining (training) them, as a truly good heavenly Father, who seeks their wellbeing and growth. If God did not send these trials to us, it could be regarded that he was an illegitimate Father and that we were illegitimate sons. But since he does such a faithful job of pushing us towards Godliness, we know that he truly loves us.

Thirdly, discipline allows us to share in God's holiness (12:10). This point has really hit home for me lately. Let me apply it to your life. Think of a trial that you have gone through recently, or perhaps one that you are going through now. Have that trial in your mind, and fill in this statement: "If X didn't happen to me, I would not be as much like Christ as I am today," This statement is hard, and we do not like it, but it is true. It is very true that without the trials that God has given you in life, you would not be as like him as you are today. Just as a runner runs long miles to get better at running, and a student buries himself in long books to make himself smarter, so the long trials in life build up our spiritual muscles that we might grow in holiness. "[God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness" (12:10b).

Lastly, discipline is painful at first, but rewarding in the end (12:11). Nothing good in life was ever obtained easily. Discipline is difficult, but the reward is worth the pain. Look at what the LORD tells us here: "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" (12:11). I'm truly not sure how to improve upon these words. Do any of you know, or have any of you felt, that "peaceful fruit of righteousness" that comes when you have endured life's difficult trials? I certainly know that I have, and what a glorious thing it is! Trials are difficult in the moment, but they produce in us a holiness, peace, and righteousness that is well worth the struggle, even though it may not feel like it in the moment.

In 1779, John Newton wrote a hymn called "Prayers Answered by Crosses." The hymn starts out with the words, "I asked the Lord that I might grow" and continues by showing how the Lord chose to grow Newton:

I hoped that in some favored hour

at once he'd answer my request,

and by his love's constraining power

subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel

the hidden evils of my heart

and let the angry powers of hell

assault my soul in every part

In reflecting upon these trials the Lord brought about by his prayer for growth, Newton prays to the Lord in the second-to-final stanza:

Lord, why is this? I trembling cried:

wilt thou pursue this worm to death?

This is the way, the Lord replied,

I answer prayer for grace and faith.

Though I know not what trial you go through this morning, the Lord does. Furthermore, I even dare take a step further to say that the Lord has ordained your trial, and that he is sovereign over its every part (cf. Job 1-2). But do not fear, Christian: for the Lord is producing within you a holiness that can only be obtained through trial. Press on as you consider Christ, and look to him as your pattern for endurance (Heb 12:1-4). For he suffered on the cross for you, bearing the ultimate trial, that you might have success in every one of your own.