The Truth About Trouble

3. As well as our bad behavior!

Hebrews 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; “God is treating you as his children.” For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 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! 10 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. 11 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.-NIV

A) In his book Knowing God J I Packer said it this way….

JI Packer - "In this world, royal children have to undergo extra training and discipline, which other children escape, in order to fit them for their high destiny. It is the same with the children of the King of Kings. The clue to understanding all His dealings with them is to remember that throughout their lives He is training them for what awaits them.

Tom Landry - "The job of a coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to be what they've always wanted to be."

Charles Spurgeon - What a bright light this sheds upon all affliction…When you feel the weight of God’s hand upon you, never forget that it is your Father’s hand. Whatever form your trial may take remember — the rod is never in any hand but the paternal one….let this be your comfort, that it is not the hand of an enemy….You are not suffering from a crushing blow from a foe’s hand, but the stroke, whether it is heavy or light, is wholly caused by your loving Father’s hand.

Malcolm Muggeridge The English journalist and satirist - "Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, everything I have learned, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness.”

“The graduate degree of spirituality comes from attending the School of Hard Knocks.”

5. Direct us

Proverbs 20:30 Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways. (GN)

A) My own salvation testimony

Psalm 107 (NIV)

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

Q: How do we come to the Lord?

Q: What was the precursor to my salvation?

A: Trouble!

Psalm 107 (NIV)

6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

a) Trouble has a way of directing us to God!

b) Despair has a way of forcing us to rely on God

2 Corinthians 1: 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.