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.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

(Hebrews 12:5–13, ESV)

God uses his word to expose us, but then washes us with his word and brings healing. Though God’s exposing our sin brings healing, we are “like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you” (Psalm32:9). We want to conquer our sin in our own way. In a way that makes us feel safe. We want to hold on to our pride. We have forgotten the promise of the Gospel,

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

(Psalm 32:1–5, ESV)

Healing never comes from protecting our pride. But the love of God for us is immense even in this for it is in this state that God calls to us. “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, ‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives us more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and morn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to morning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James4:5-10). When we see ourselves as we are, we ought to morn and weep, for our sin is great. But when we understand this, we also understand God’s grace for us, and we no longer have to perform before God or man. We can lay down our performance. Jesus calls to us, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

One of the reasons we hold on to our pride is because the Gospel does not call us to live alone but calls us to walk this out in community. James is clear that healing comes from hearing the word of God. God’s word comes alive as we experience the body of Christ. We are not meant to hear God’s word alone. The scripture says, “Better is open rebuke, then hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:5,6a). James ends his letter with this, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” As Paul admonishes us to put sin to death, he also encourages us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). And in this truth, we are not only surrounded by the love of God but the love of the body of Christ.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

1 Corinthians 1:8-10

1 Corinthians 13

Hebrews 12:28-29

Luke 4:18,19

You alluded to the verse “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Funny, I have heard that quoted several times in the last few days. I find it interesting what comes after this.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)

The promise of all things working together for good does not mean we will not face tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword. No, for his sake, for our Beloved’s sake, “we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” But what it does mean is that His love breaks through all things no matter how bad for nothing can separate us from the love of our Beloved. It is about being in love. When you’re in love your deepest heart’s desire is not to be separated from the one you love. He breaks through everything, and we are swept away in His arms and by His love and that is truly “good”.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:31-34)

And indeed, our position is secure in Him and He works all things for our good, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”

We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars.

I have learned that walking close with God does not mean that you will not be in situations that will shake the core of who you are, nor does it mean that you won’t be shaken with no strength left of your own. But there is a sweetness and a dear intimacy in walking with the Lord in those times that breaks forth into doxology, “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near.” He is near. It is He who comes close and holds us when we cannot hold ourselves. It is He who always holds us because we can never hold ourselves. . .. “It is I who keep steady its pillars.” And in this world that totters and is shaken, it is He who sees our situation and “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.”

The heaviness of the chains as they were wrapped around and locked.

All light fled, and no whispers of comfort came.

Mire and heaviness engulfed me, as I waited helpless.

I cried out for help, silence

And so I stayed on my knees waiting.

My captors would cry out, “Where is your Hope? He will not deliver you.”

I said, I will not lose my trust, in the Living One,

He will deliver me in His love, for His name’s sake.

I will put my trust in Him, though the darkness hides me,

Though I cannot see His face.

He will not hide from me forever.

He is my strength.

Oh! Is He not mighty and His love grand.

He will come and make war on my enemies.

He will deliver me and turn my sorrow into joy.

He will give me a new song, and will teach me to dance.

He will teach me to war, and my enemies will flee.

He will give me hands and words to heal the wounded and afflicted,

And hearts will see and turn to Him.

He will bless my fields and they will produce abundant wheat and fruit.

He will be near.

Oh! My enemies, though my Help looks far off,

He is near, He is with me.

And even in my greatest sorrow, He is my comfort.

And I will praise Him with all my heart.

Oh! How great is His joy at all times.

I will not be ashamed, no, for I trust in Him.

I hear His thunder now.

“Sorry, for being down last night. I honestly don’t know how to deal with my hurt, except to cry out to the Lord. Right now, I am weak and falling apart. The psalms talks about great pain and bones being wracked and the like. The Psalmists felt pain and sorrow intensely. I think we read this and think that it is not normal when it happens. We get over spiritual and say we shouldn’t feel this way. Well, I do feel this way! I am hurting, but I assure you that my eyes are on Christ, and I am running after Him. And I believe He will hold me during this. He already is. I will not lose my confidence in Him, and though my heart is hurting, and it is hard, I know He is good. I trust Him, so dearly. I am thankful I don’t have to be perfect before Him, but He accepts me as I am, wounded, weak, and hurting. Feel free to pray for me, I don’t believe our walk of faith is done alone. Your prayers are effective in giving me the strength I need to walk through this.”

I am being very vulnerable with my pain here, more than I normally would, because we hear a lot of people saying that God is good after coming through a situation and looking back. I want you to know that you can have that hope and confidence and joy in the midst of the situation. In the midst of pain, I have confidence that God is good. And I can trust Him. This is what real life is about. And God is there.

I also want people to feel like it is ok, to feel sorrow. I wrote another letter today. Here it is:

“I realized tonight that I feel like it’s not ok to hurt, not so much with God, with God I feel like it is ok, but with people. I feel like people think that if I am hurting, I lack faith or that I am holding on, and so it’s not ok. I think one of the things I have been needing to hear is that it is ok to hurt.”