The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”

—Hebrews 12:7–8

The discipline we endure in the Western world rarely comes to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 12:4), but we still must be trained to resist sin in the deepest part of our hearts. That discipline often comes through the death of some simple desire or expectation in this life. Our reactions when we don’t get the things we want often reveal why we need the discipline—there’s an idol exposed, or a sin brought to light.

The call of the Christian includes enduring the Lord’s discipline—which may seem only like difficulty and pain in the moment—and living through it with our faith unshaken. That doesn’t mean we must enjoy it or smile and dance all the way through; it just means that even when it’s tough, we trust that God is with us.

We need this discipline just like a child needs the discipline of parents in order to become a responsible adult.

God is training us up, and if there’s an area in which we’re weak in endurance, patience, love, contentment, or anything else the Lord calls us to, he will work to strengthen it. That normally isn’t pleasant (Hebrews 12:11), but it results in the ability to live a righteous life and set our minds on things above.

God is working peace, spiritual maturity, and righteousness through the discipline, and we can trust him even in the midst of it.

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