Devotional Thoughts | Adversity Part 3 - Adversity Is Our Assurance Of His Love

Adversity Is Our Assurance Of His Love

1. We have all heard, “If you really loved me you wouldn’t discipline me….” Of course, we know what the Bible says in Hebrews 12:6 – 13

2. ‘Disciple’ and ‘Discipline’ are derived from the same root word. A good disciple is one who is disciplined. Many people feel that love for the child and discipline of the child are at odds with each other, that they are mutually exclusive, even enemies. Some teach that if you really love your children, you won’t need to discipline them. Or that if you discipline your children, they will have every reason to doubt your love. That just isn’t true. In fact, the Bible teaches us just the opposite. Proverbs 13:24. “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.”
   
   Let me be perfectly clear about this. We are talking about disciplining or discipling our children, we are not talking about crushing their spirits. That is cruel and unbiblical. We are however, talking about curbing and shaping their assertive self – wills. There is a great difference. We have all been around the spoiled brat, the one who has no discipline or direction. It’s not fun when they are children, and even less enjoyable when they are grown.

3. Philippians 1:12. “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”. In this verse of Scripture the Apostle Paul says the things that have happened to him have come to serve the advancement of the gospel. The word ADVANCEMENT comes from the Greek “Prokopa” which means to cut before. It was used of an army of pioneer wood - cutters which preceded the regular army, cutting a road through an impenetrable forest, making possible the advancement of the army into regions where otherwise it could not have gone. Paul assures the Philippians that his circumstances have not only failed to curtail his missionary work, but they have advanced it.
   
   What were his circumstances? His was under arrest. He was chained to a Roman soldier night and day. God had built a fence around him. He had placed limitations on him. He had handicapped him. But Paul said they were God’s wood – cutters making a road for the advancement of the Gospel.
   
     So it is in the life of the Christian. The things that hedge us in, the things that handicap us, the tests that we go through, are the discipline of the Lord. Working in us and for us as the wood – cutters making a way for the gospel to work more effectively in our lives and through us in the world around.  At times we don’t see or understand why the Lord is allowing this to happen to us, but the discipline of His love results in our reaching spiritual maturity.
   
   
   

What are you going through now which you would, or could consider to be an adverse situation? What impact is it having on your life? Do you sense the love of the Lord even in the middle the trial?

Let me conclude by reminding you the Lord loved you when you were unlovable lost in sin. He loved you and received you with open arms when you came to the cross. He loves you as his child and desires the very best for you.