In may last post I mentioned spiritual disciplines. Things like prayer, Bible reading etc. Then I was reading in Hebrews 12 about how God disciplines us as sons (and daughters). The context initially looks to be about God correcting us for our sins. Heb 12:6. But there’s also a sense of training, the way athletes discipline themselves when preparing for a race. In fact the chapter goes on to talk that way in Heb 12:12-13.

This shows another aspect of discipline. As well as the discipline we exercise when we devote ourselves to prayer, the Word, fellowship etc, there’s also the discipline that God takes us through. I think this is the sense of Phil 2:13. God works in us, in such a way that we want to do those things that please him as well as actually doing them. So the goal of our lives is to to become more like Jesus, a goal that God sets and shares with us and actively works in us to achieve it.

But the process is not easy – even painful – but it doesn’t last, and has great results. Heb 12:11.

I think this is profound.

Because it means that every time we go through difficult times, there’s purpose to it. God is working in our lives – working to sanctify us. That means to make us holy – which is separated out, called out, being more and more like him. That’s ultimately why we have become Christians Eph 1:4

So now, when things get tough, rather than wondering if God has abandoned us, though we might moan, complain and plead with him, we can finally rest in the knowledge that God is working in us. He is always faithful to his promise never to leave us 2 Tim 2:13

I had a great example of this few years ago. I’d been travelling with work with various customer meetings ending up in Guernsey, where I arrived on a Thursday along with a load of fog.

Fog which prevented a colleague from Manchester getting to the island, so I had to hold a technical meeting on my own on the Friday. But still the fog. One of the customer guys cheerfully told me it was not uncommon for the fog to last for a week! I went to the airport anyway for the evening flight. Even though it was a bit chaotic (4 o’clock in the afternoon and some people who’d been there since 6 o’clock in the morning!), I felt God saying to me “Do you trust me?”. On the face of it, it looked extremely unlikely that I was going to get home that day. Then a couple of verses came to mind: Matt 8:26 and Psalm 46:1-3 and Psalm 46:10. “Do you trust me?”. And somehow this felt more significant than just the weather.

Well then the fog cleared, aircraft started to arrive, the morning Manchester flight was called. Ten minutes later the evening flight (the one I was booked on) was called – and I arrived home on time. Wow.

The following Sunday we learned a new song. It was ‘Sovereign Over Us’ with this chorus:

Your plans are still to prosper
You have not forgotten us
You’re with us in the fire and the flood
You’re faithful forever
Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us

Then on Monday my mum died.

She’d been suffering from dementia for several years, but it’s still a shock when it happens. The verse of Sovereign Over Us became acutely relevant

There is strength within the sorrow
There is beauty in our tears
And You meet us in our mourning
With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting
You’re sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding
You’re teaching us to trust

Through some mildly difficult circumstances (the fog), God had been ‘training’ me in trusting him. So when the big thing happened, even only a couple of days later, my heart and mind had already been focussing on trusting him.

I shared that story at her funeral. Partly as it had been important to me, but also as a reassurance that, as a Christian, my mum was finally ‘ok’.

This doesn’t mean I’ve got this sorted! It means I’m on the way though. In the middle of difficult times it’s easy to fall into the moans, complaints and self-pity. But I have a memory I can call on – as well as some verses!

• Isaiah 41:10
• Romans 8:31
• Psalm 27:1
• Hebrews 13:5