This verse jumped out at me today because I found it confusing. This verse was telling me that God had planned to send the Israelites into captivity, to have them be gloated over by their enemies- this part I understood, people like Jeremiah had spent their entire lives warning the people of this coming judgment. The part that I found confusing was how this message meshed with what God said about his "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11). How did God have plans to prosper them while at the same time planning to hand them over to Babylon? This got me to thinking about one of the questions I've heard a lot of people ask: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Although the Israelites were hardly considered "good" people at the time, although they were being sent into exile as a punishment for their idolatry; it still got me wondering about why we have so many trials and so much pain in our lives. I started looking around in the Bible and I found these verses that really helped me with my questions: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:2-3) Part of God's plan was to send Jesus to earth, to have him go through some of the worst pain imaginable, to have him die; all of this to reach God's ultimate purpose- to draw us to him. I think this is something that we need to remember whenever we go through hard times, Jesus went through some really hard times to save us; maybe we are going through our own hard times in order to bring people to him. I could have stopped at this verse but the message that I needed just kept coming: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?" (Hebrews 12:4-7) When this last verse says to "endure hardship as discipline" it wasn't saying that "all hardship is discipline", to me it was saying that we should treat all hardship as an opportunity for training and as a chance to be stronger in our walk with God, God gives us these chances because he his treating us as his sons! But Wait! There's more: "If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 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 our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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." (Hebrews 12:8-11) The temporary hardships that we have to endure will produce a harvest of righteousness for us and for others, a harvest that will be worth the pain. I know that I've posted a lot today but I want you to remember that when you are going through a hard time, the hardships will be worth it in the end, in fact, with all the good that can come from it you may come back asking for seconds! Remember that it is worth it and that God will be with you through it all!
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