Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.” 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. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Hebrews 12:1-13

When a parent uses negative consequences in disciplining a son or daughter, the child might think, If you really loved me, you wouldn’t ground me. And the truth is, we often feel the same way when God disciplines us. But like any loving human parent, God has a goal of helping us grow. As today’s passage in Hebrews says, discipline doesn’t feel good initially; it hurts. Yet if we learn to accept and be trained by it, our lives will be transformed and bear fruit.

Unfortunately, we sometimes mistake God’s discipline for punishment, especially when we’re distracted or consumed with busyness. It’s easier to consider that discipline a blessing if we’re looking for the big picture of how God works in our life. But instead, we often complain, “If You were good to me, You wouldn’t do this or that” and, as a result, completely miss out on what He is doing.

In Psalm 23:6, when David writes, “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,” he is expressing that God’s blessings are present with us every day we are alive. The Lord pours out His goodness upon us—in our trials just as much as in our ease and comfort. Let’s pray for eyes to see those blessings and evidence of God’s good character and purposes.