Hebrews 12:12-17

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.  Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.  See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.  For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

Persecution and discipline can take its toll on our lives.  It can be easy for us to become discouraged, begin to blame others, and be more vulnerable to temptation.  It is important for us to beware of the potential weaknesses that can accompany our struggles while living in a sin cursed world.  The warnings can be very helpful to us as we seek to life faithfully while going through difficult times.

AVOID DISCOURAGEMENT:  When we face persecution or even just the difficulties associated with living on a fallen planet with fallen bodies, it is easy for discouragement to set it.  Hands can droop, knees can weaken, and feet can stray.  The author of Hebrews recognized this reality and urges his readers to remember the Lord and be strengthened and encouraged by the relationship we have with Him.  Our hands are to be productive for the work of the Lord.  Our knees are to be firm under the weight the world may pile on us.  Our feet and to stay on the path the Lord has revealed.  The damage this world inflicts upon us can cause a limp but because of God’s work on our behalf, it should never put us out of joint.  The Spirit of God can heal our wounds and give us supernatural power to love the Lord and rejoice in the redemption He is working out through this process. 

AVOID BITTERNESS: There is no hurt like the hurt that other people can inflict upon us with their words and their actions.  People can be brutal and the pain they cause can hurt our hearts.  Peace is not always possible because peace requires both parties to agree.  However, on our part, there should be a readiness to live at peace.  God is gracious to us no matter how much we deserve the opposite.  We must strive to exercise the same grace we have experienced from the Lord.  The idea of striving and peace seem contradictory, so what we must recognize is that our striving is against our own flesh that wants grace for ourselves but justice for others.  That is our default mode, and we must strive against that.  Bitterness so easily takes root in our hearts and then produces all kinds of destructive trouble in our lives.  Grace and forgiveness must become our default modes by the power of God’s Spirit that lives within us.

AVOID IMMORALITY: Too often we try to soothe the pain we face in this world with pleasure.  Our bodies cry out for comfort and satisfaction of all the desires we have.  These desires range from basic necessities like food to passions of the heart like sex.  We are to strive for holiness in our walk with the Lord and learn to say “no” to the desires of the flesh.  Esau traded his birthright for a plate of food.  Too frequently people will trade a faithful marriage, a beautiful family, and a fruitful ministry for a few minutes of immoral sexual pleasure.  These kinds of faithful acts have lasting consequences that cannot be undone.  Forgiveness is available by God’s grace but that does not remove all the consequences of sin no matter how repentant we might be.  The pain of persecution cannot be diminished by the pursuit of immoral pleasure or comfort.  These will only inflict more intense suffering.

APPLICATION: Don’t allow the fleeting pain that suffering inflicts to take our eyes off the permanent rewards God has promised through the Gospel.  Stand strong and look to the cross.  Practice grace and forgiveness as a habit of our lives even with those who do not repent.  Stand ready to extend grace instead of bitterness.  Say “no” to the desires of the flesh and never used suffering as an excuse for sin. 

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