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Suffering

Purpose in Pain

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When God allows pain, his desire is never to hurt you. Sometimes, it’s to prune you and make you more fruitful. It might be to humble you, or to discipline you, or to equip you to comfort others.

Sometimes, God just wants to get your attention. Maybe the Lord has already offered milder reminders and rebukes, and you have kept ignoring them. Now he’s left with no alternative but to discipline you. God loves you too much to allow to let you stay on your current flight path. He’s been calling out, “Mayday, Mayday. Abort, Abort. Don’t keep going this way!” But you turned of the warning alarm.

Now God is disciplining you. His discipline is not to hurt you, but as the Good Shepherd, he’s using his staff to push you back on the straight and narrow.

Hebrews 12:5–6 says, “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

If you ever realize you have some unconfessed sin and are under God’s discipline, what should you do? Seek forgiveness and restoration by following the example of the psalmist. Psalm 130:7 says, “For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.“

Not all pain is due to personal sin. It might simply be to lift our eyes off ourselves and upward, or to give us grace to better sympathize with others. Pain also has a purifying effect in our own lives, challenging us to break bad habits, rid ourselves of idolatry, and offer heartfelt repentance.

I talk more about this in my sermon, “Purpose in Pain,” which I preached several months ago at Calvary Church. In this lesson, we learn…

  • Some of the reasons God allows us to suffer
  • Two judges you’ve probably never heard of
  • God disciplines us to grow us
  • Warning against idols of the heart

Here’s the audio, now available on the podcast:

Thanks for listening! You can visit the Sermon Hub to find over 650 other sermons arranged by topic and book of the Bible. 

Sermons

Built to Last

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When Heidi was born, Natalie and I decided our little four door Saturn compact car wasn’t going to cut it for a family of four with all the baby and toddler gear in tow. There was only one thing to do. It was time to take the plunge and enter the minivan world.

We searched for used cars online and visited a couple dealerships, then settled on a 2005 Toyota Sienna. It was a great van. We bought it with just under 40,000 miles on it, and put another 200,000 miles on it. We drove it to work, to church, to doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, camping trips, and cross country road trips.

Over time, the van began to break down. Hubcaps rolled off. The automatic door broke. The back windshield wiper snapped. The axel and suspension went bad. Emissions needed repairs. The engine was still purring like a cat, but the van was showing its age and other repairs began to add up. Eventually, it just didn’t make sense to keep pouring money into it. After driving that minivan for almost fifteen years, we agreed it was time to trade it in for something newer. A mechanic at our church said any other model would have died a long time ago, but these vehicles were “built to last.” We eventually bought another minivan, another Toyota Sienna but eleven years newer with less miles on it. We like our “newer” van, but nothing will replace that 2005 silver Toyota Sienna in our hearts. It was like part of the family.

There’s a parallel here with marriage. Marriage is not always easy. As you get more miles, little things may start to break down, and there may be some bumps along the way. What’s important is that you keep Christ at the center of your relationship. Marriage is God’s idea, and any husband and wife who depend on the Holy Spirit and follow the instructions in God’s Word can have a marriage “built to last.”

Some time back, I preached on Colossians 3:18-19, which gives excellent counsel to husbands and wives. Together we learned…

  • The secret to a lasting marriage
  • Does a wife really have to “submit” to her husband?
  • How husbands can learn to love like Jesus
  • An important caveat – “do not be harsh”

Here’s the sermon audio if you’d like to follow along. Consider it a “tune-up” to keep your marriage running smoothly for years to come!

Thanks for listening. For a complete list of all my sermons, please visit the Sermon Hub on my blog.