Mother Nature’s Way
Hebrews 12:11 We don’t enjoy discipline when we get it. It is painful. But later, after we have learned our lesson from it, we will enjoy the peace that comes from doing what is right.
Pain is a fact of life … it just is. That’s not up for debate. But what people do wonder about is the reason for pain. When we’re suffering we all ask ourselves, “Why is this happening to me?” Well, why is it?
They say that pain is Mother Nature’s way of telling us that there’s something wrong. So what; she planned it this way? She has a will and purpose and compassion? Mother Nature is a person?
It rolls off the tongue so easily, doesn’t it – “Mother Nature”? It’s a notion with cerebral curb appeal – you want to pull up next to it because it makes you feel good.
My hunch is that that’s because most of us want to believe in some greater force. We want to have a sense that we’re part of something bigger. Even though we have failings and get things wrong and have rotten days in amongst the good ones, we want to know that there’s a “Mother Nature” thing happening out there.
But what if pain is in fact God’s way of telling us that there’s something wrong? Take Jesus for instance – brutalised, beaten, crucified – now that’s pain. It took Him several hours to die of suffocation in excruciating pain. There was something wrong. His pain was caused by our sin.
But God … well, He wants to deal with our sin. He wants to set us free from our sin … because ultimately that sin leads to our death. And for many, it’s a slow, lingering death.
Hebrews 12:11 We don’t enjoy discipline when we get it. It is painful. But later, after we have learned our lesson from it, we will enjoy the peace that comes from doing what is right.
Listen up: the pain of God’s discipline today is much, much better than the pain of His eternal judgement one day.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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