Understanding Hardship; God is Treating You as His Children
Are you facing a difficult time right now? Maybe you know someone who is going through a hard time right now. Hardship. We all face it at some point in our life. If you need help to get through your hardship, this will encourage you! God talked to us about hardship through His Word, the Bible. Jesus pointed out that, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” It is when we focus our attention on this life and forget what Jesus has done for us, it will become difficult to go through hardship.
America has gone through a long season experiencing hardship, and as the concept of family has been destroyed, discipline and hardship have become a foreign concept to many people. Things have been said like it is not your fault; it is your parents’ fault, and then an endless cycle has begun where children blame parents for their issues! Discipline has been taken away from homes, but the Bible points out how important it is to discipline our children. “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” Discipline helps remove rebellion from a child which as they grow up into an adult, it will help them to be a better person. If we do not discipline our children, then they will be disciplined as they get older because there is authority and consequences in everything that we face. When someone is disobeying the law, who do we call? We call the police to discipline that person! Why do we accept not disciplining our children, but we accept a person being thrown in jail to be disciplined? Then once in jail, they are given a Bible. Why not start a child’s life out with a disciplined life, through following God’s Word? God has established all authority! This means that we all are called, no matter what age we are, to follow and obey the authority in our life.
We must be careful and read God’s Word to be sure we are following Him. When a father disciplines his child, and the child knows that their Father loves them, then they will gain a reverent fear. This will cause the child to want to obey because they love their Father! They know their Father loves them and will keep them safe as well. This is how it is with God! We obey Him because we love Him.
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their Father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 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 spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order 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 12:7-11
When you are going through a difficult season, God the Father is treating you as His child! God, the Creator of the Universe, is treating you as His child! Do you know why many people feel fatherless even if they have a father in their home? Because dark, twisted laws have taken away a father’s right to discipline! God has established authority, and if a child does not listen to their parents, they will face another authority until ultimately, they face the judgment seat of Jesus Christ!
Right now, because of the virus COVID-19, many people are facing hardship. It could be your finances, relationships, or sickness that you are having a hard time in, but this is God treating you as His child! God disciplines us for our good so that we can share in His holiness. Sometimes we will not separate ourselves from sin or something that God has said to get out of our lives until we suffer enough to repent and cut that thing out of our life! This will stop us from going that way in the future. When we allow hardship to shape and mold us, then righteousness and peace are ours!
When the adversary took away the right to discipline in our homes, that also took away people’s ability to recognize that God disciplines those He loves. The whole world is going through a global discipline right now. God the Father wants to turn hearts to Him so that they can spend eternity with Him because He loves us!
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
Hardship makes us reevaluate where we are and can turn us in repentance, which is turning away from sin, to follow Jesus. Many people have believed a lie that they have done so much evil that they will not be accepted by God, but that is not true! He loves you and wants you to follow Him and love Him. You can learn more about how to follow the Lord through learning the Secrets of the Kingdom HERE. Once you have made the decision accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have the Kingdom of God inside of you! Going through this series will change you and help you to get serious with Jesus. Also, to grow in the Lord and bear fruit for His Kingdom, we must spend time with the Lord daily because out of the overflow of our time with Him is how we will be known by our fruit. Greg shares that the things he shares on VFNtv is out of an overflow of his time with Jesus, which is what we call abiding. If you need help in how to abide, you can get your free plan at iAbide HERE and starting abiding in the vine, Jesus, today!
You may have faced much hardship and are in so much pain that you feel locked up inside because you are so broken and devastated. It is hard for you to even talk about the pain, but God sees your pain, and He cares about you. God says you matter to Him! He wants to heal your broken heart, and it is not over for you; it is just the beginning for you. God’s Word says that He will not despise a broken and contrite heart. It puts your heart in the perfect condition for Him to grow good fruit in your heart, which Greg shares about in Secrets of the Kingdom HERE.
No matter the hardship we face, God calls us to rejoice in every circumstance. It doesn’t mean we must be happy in it, but we can rejoice in it, knowing it is His will for us to praise Him in every moment! “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Do not let the enemy take your prayer! Get a prayer community going around you where you can pray with other believers. In the VFN Prayer and Fasting Community, there have been 24 hours of prayer on Mondays since 2009, where we have been praying for you. Out of this time of prayer, VFNtv was birthed and so many other things. God moves when we pray! Those that love God through every hardship they face God will work out for good! “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God loves you, and if you do not know Him as your Father, you can choose to follow Him today by making Jesus Christ the Lord of your life. Find out more on how to do that HERE at Meet My Father, and if you made that decision, welcome to the family!
What are your thoughts about God the Father disciplining His children? We want to hear from you. Write to us at [email protected] or in the VFNKB Community HERE. Greg shared in this segment.
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