音频：

视频：

希伯来书：12:11-13: 11凡管教的事，当时不觉得快乐，反觉得愁苦，后来却为那经练过的人结出平安的果子，就是义．12所以，你们要把下垂的手、发酸的腿挺起来，13也要为自己的脚，把道路修直了，使瘸子不至歪脚，反得痊癒。（歪脚或作差路）

       今天早晨读这些经文时有两个地方引起我的注意。当生活里出现苦难，上帝是用它来为“那经练过的人结出平安的果子，就是义。”上帝让万事互相效力是为了我们属灵的需要和永恒的益处。但这不意味着我们面临的苦难是令人愉快的。这就是现实。

       今日的美国人已经习惯性地认为，没人应该经历任何痛苦。所以我们很快就会找到减轻疼痛的药物，而这反过来又会产生一系列其他问题。事实的真相是生活有时的确是痛苦的。遇到这种情况，你能做的就是忍耐，并继续前行。

       有一次我父亲摔坏了后背。因为太痛，他只好弯着腰走路，他甚至无法工作。有一天，我哥哥说：“也许如果你改变一下，站直身子，你的背就不会这么疼了。”我父亲的眼神里闪过一丝愤怒，但出于一种反抗精神，他竟然站直了。你知道后来怎样？他的后背不那么疼了。经过几天的直立行走，情况愈发好转。“所以，你们要把下垂的手、发酸的腿挺起来，也要为自己的脚，把道路修直了，使瘸子不至歪脚，反得痊癒。”不要让痛苦左右你的生活，也不要让痛苦控制你。坚持下去，继续前行，耐心等待。上帝一定会让你重新得力，并利用你的苦难为你结出公义的果子。

祷告：亲爱的阿爸父啊，请提醒我，今生的苦难虽然来的时候很痛苦，却是短暂的，你在我的生命中使用它们是为了我的益处。请给我足够的勇气来背负生活的重担，这样我就不会被这些重担所定义。相反，请让我的生命由你所赐的平安和盼望所定义。阿们。

Hebrews 12: 11 No discipline seems pleasant when it is happening, but painful, yet later it yields a peaceful harvest of righteousness for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen your weak hands and feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed.

      Two things in these verses strike me this morning. When trouble comes our lives, God uses it to produce a “peaceful harvest of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.” God makes things work out for our spiritual and eternal good. But that doesn’t mean the hardship we face is at all pleasant. That’s the reality of it.

Americans today are conditioned to think that no one should ever experience any pain ever.  So we are quick to find medication to alleviate the pain, which in turn can produce a host of other problems. The truth is that sometimes life can be painful. At times like that, you just have to suck it up and keep on going.

My father threw out his back once. It was very painful for him and he walked stooped over in pain. It was hard for him to do his work. One day my brother said, “Maybe if you just stood up straight for a change, your back wouldn’t hurt so much.” My father’s eyes flashed in anger and he stood up straight in defiance, and you know what?  His back didn’t hurt as much. A few days of walking upright made it much better.  “Therefore, strengthen your weak hands and feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed.” Don’t let your pain define the way you live.  Don’t let it own you. Suck it up and keep on going and wait, for God will certainly restore you and use your hardship to produce a harvest of righteousness for you.   Prayer:   Dear Father, abba Father, remind me that the hardships of this life, while painful when they come, are only temporary, and that you will use them for good in my life. Give me the courage to bear up under my burdens so that I am not defined by them. Instead, let my life be defined by the peace and hope I have in you.  Amen.