5.29.24
This week we’re looking at what it means to run the race of life - of the Christian life - where we have a broader perspective on the struggles and hard times around us. There’s no escaping that life is hard - that unwelcome circumstances often linger. But if our life’s goal is the minimization of trouble and the maximization of pleasure, then hard times will undo us. They will throw us into a deep sadness. But if we can see that God is directing and using every ounce of struggle and pain to strip us of those delusions and push us to build the foundation of our lives on Jesus, then we can see these struggles as a welcome friend.
This may very well be the reason why the author chooses at this point to change his metaphor. Because he moves from talking about the agony of a race, to the tender, loving care of a Father. And when you’re in the midst of life’s struggles, it might sound a bit cold and analytical to see God as your coach, pushing you onward. And it’s certainly more personal and intimate to see God as your loving Father.
And as a Father, God uses and directs these hard times to discipline us for our good. And here the author makes a distinction for us that is critical. Because our modern culture is so obsessed with comfort and pleasure, we have a hard time distinguishing between discipline and punishment. Because they both rob us of the things we’re pursuing.
But according to the Bible, discipline is loving correction to put us back on the right track. Whereas punishment is payment for wrongs done. And if we can begin to see our daily struggles as being controlled and managed by a loving Father, then we will feel less alone in our struggles against them. And we will see that God never brings more than is necessary to get our attention and lead us back to him.
It’s hard not to feel judged and punished when hard things come at us. But the Bible tells us that Jesus has already paid our penalty in full. And so it would be unjust for God to exact two punishments for the same crime. And so what this means is that every struggle is God’s loving control over the brokenness of this world to push us back to him.
Though God doesn’t create evil and all the suffering of a broken world, he does use it and control it for his own purposes. Like with Job, God allows “this much” and “no further” in order to accomplish his purposes. Like with Joseph, God uses the jealously of his brothers and the lust of Potiphar’s wife to mold him into a man who can rescue the world from starvation.
And what his means is that whatever you’re facing today - no matter how hard and ugly and “unfair” it might seem, God has his loving hands wrapped all around it. And he’s using it and guiding it and controlling it to bring about the changes in us that he desires.