(Hebrews 12:1-13) As I read this passage beginning in verse five it explained that, as children of God, we will be disciplined for our sin, just as any earthly father would discipline his child. The question that comes to my mind, and sort of relates back to even the story of the blindman, how do we know when a hardship we face is God’s discipline for some sin in our life or if it is God testing our faith?
One could go with the thinking that utlimately seeking God out through His discipline is also a test of our faith. The thing that brings concern to my mind, when hardships come, is there some sin in my life that I’m not addressing and seeking forgiveness for? If we look elsewhere in Scripture we know that it is in part the work of the Holy Spirit that does the conviction in our hearts to help us see the sin in our lives. At the same time however, there can seem to be an easy ability for our hearts to turn to the selfishness found in our sin nature that can blind us to the sin in our lives.
I truly believe that the sin in our life will be easily revealed to us if we are actively seeking after God. Through times of prayer and reading His Word, He can speak to us and show us the areas of our life where we are failing. This leads to a very important aspect of the Christian life. How are we growing spiritually if we are not in His Word daily and seeking Him out in prayer? In the same way that we could not grow very well physically if we do not each food, we can’t grow spiritually if we are not feeding ourselves through His Word.
