Continuing while suffering
This is God's good plan, keep going!
Edited and adapted from a sermon given at Lakewood Church on May 3, 2026. Sermon link here
Last Sunday we collectively considered true, biblical, saving faith and the fruits from it. In a pastoral letter to struggling Christians in the first century, the writer of Hebrews urges a continuing in our journey as faithful followers of Christ. As we saw, faith does not produce cookie cutter Christians. Rather each of us will have assigned lives with varying circumstances, trials, and joys. If you weren’t here, I’ll state again by way of encouragement, your faith placed in Christ, pleases God! It is not the size of your faith, not the vigor and vibrancy of your faith, not the perfection of your faith, rather it is the object of your faith that keeps you. Jesus will keep you if you trust in Him and His death and resurrection.
Now that’s all fine and true, but when is that faith rocked, challenged, and we’re left thinking about abandoning it all? That often happens when we hurt, when we struggle, when the waves lap over our heads and we feel as though we are drowning. Suffering often is the sharp instrument that cuts and we begin contemplating whether faith, trust, and a following of the Lord is worth it.
Which brings us to our main idea, which is simply this: This is God’s good plan, keep going! Many of us have a very poor theology as it relates to suffering. Christian doctrines and the life God calls us to, that’s well and good, expect when things aren’t going the way I thought they would, then I’m not so sure. The Jewish believers receiving this letter were wrestling with the exact same problem.
They are tempted to abandon Jesus and go back to the Old Covenant. Like us, they were shifting in their theology, what they believed and what they practiced, not out of conviction of what they found in the Scriptures, but they were swayed by their experiences and feelings. Their suffering took the driver’s seat and was steering them back to the old ways of sacrifices, priests, laws, and heroes like Moses and the prophets because the hurt they were experiencing felt like a mistake or interruption to their life.
Yet it’s no mistake or accident, their suffering is part of God’s good plan for their life, it is for yours as well. If you’ve ever struggled like I have, to connect the purposes of God with hurt, if you’d had questions about the love and goodness of God in trial, if you’ve been tempted to abandon Jesus and His ways when the dark and gloomy clouds of life leave you perpetually numb, dissatisfied, and wounded… Then Hebrews 12 is for you.
In reverence to the Word of God, a short prayer before we read our passage. Father, strip us of pride and self-sufficiency. Show us who you are, show us who we are, show us the riches of Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hebrews 12 starts this way:
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 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. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 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? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 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? 10 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. 11 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.
12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 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; 16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 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.
This is the reading of God’s Word.
How do we continue and keep going in the midst of God’s good plan for us? The pastor of Hebrews provides us 3 helpful prescriptions.
First, dear Christian: Run looking to Jesus, we’ll chew on verses 1-3 on this point. Building on the argument from Hebrews 11, in light of God’s commendation and witness of Old Testament saints that faithfully followed the Lord, in light of their testimony and witness to the faithfulness of God, we have a great cloud, we have an arena full of, we have a multitude of examples that point to a life of faith being worth it because God is worth it.
So, middle of verse 1, the pastor urges his readers to also lay aside. This is a participle functioning as a sneaky imperative and command. No mere suggestion, he’s saying, therefore in view of faith, in view of God’s commendation, approval, and favor on the lives of faith we’ve read, let us also lay aside every weight and sin and run with endurance our own race set before us.
The command to lay aside weights and sins seems to carry two different categories for the Christian to consider, perhaps best framed in a question. Here it is; as I run, as I keep going, in my journey following Jesus, what are the weights and sins in my life that are hindering me from joyfully following the examples of saints through God’s redemptive history?
Many commentators use sporty athletic inferences to draw on. Citing Roman culture and how sporting events would require athletes to lay aside weighty outer garments so they could run and compete without limitation. The word ‘and’, every weight AND sin does seem to imply that there are things that weigh us down that are not sin, but still hindrances to the race of lifelong faith.
Perhaps your impulse to gravitate toward screens, significant time given toward entertainment, politics, and sports, it could be a hobby or passion or other good things that rob you from time on great things. These weights in themselves may not be sinful, but they likely are slowing you down from spiritual growth, vibrancy with the Lord, they may be acting as a 20 pound vest you’ve been wearing, and if you would lay them aside, there would be a lightness and joy to your running for Christ.
And, what clings so closely? Our sin. Weights are one thing; it takes wisdom to discern releasing good things for the best things. But sin? Yes, you may be tempted to point the finger outward and blame whoever you think the bad guys are in our world. But in you resides evil. If you would run, you must lay aside the sin the acts like a ball and chain on your ankle. You could run so much better if you would cut off the sins of comfort and apathy, lust and gossip, anger and an elevation of yourself.
Stop for a moment, ask the Lord to show you your weights and sins, and pray He would enable you to lay them aside. Take stock of your time and loyalty and ask, ‘is this a help or a hindrance to my running a life of faith?’
Notice, end of verse 1, we lay them aside so we can run with endurance. It’s a youthful thing to seek to run with speed for an entire race. We want so desperately for things to come quickly, but God’s ways are for us to run with endurance, longevity, and perseverance. How can we continue in such a long, lifetime marathon? Verse 2, we look to Jesus. We look to the One who is the ultimate example of faith, the one who fulfilled faith and trust, the originator of our faith.
It was an act of faith for Jesus to trust His Father, to also lay aside weights and run, to endure the cross, despise the shame, to suffer as He did. But we look to Jesus, notice what it says, ‘who for the joy that was set before him’, he endured these things. There’s some debate on this; the language is more nuanced than our English Bibles let on. It could be that instead of the joy Jesus possessed in Heaven, he set that aside to endure the cross. Or, as it more naturally reads in our copies, because of His joy in His mission, Jesus suffered the cross.
I think the latter fits better in light of the following words, look at verse 3. Consider, think, dwell on Jesus who endured terrible things at the hands of sinful Jewish mobs and a corrupt Roman government, so that, for the purpose that you would not grow weary or fainthearted in your journey of faith. Christ bore the hardship of human suffering so you would be enabled to continue in your life of following the Lord.
His death and resurrection achieved and accomplished forgiveness and salvation for those who trust in Him, yes and amen! And the redemptive grace of the gospel of Christ, bought through Jesus’ willingness to joyfully obey and secure you, it is the means in which you will be sustained. You become what you behold, and if you would look to Jesus, consider His suffering, verse 3 says you will not grow weary, you will not faint, you yourself will endure. Jesus willingly suffered so as you look to Him, the Spirit of God will change you and uphold you.
Keep going, look to Jesus.
Next, we are to: Rightly understand discipline in verses 4-11. Verses 4 and 5 can potentially come off as a little insensitive from the pastor if we read it wrongly. These first century Christians are being persecuted, oppressed, they are wrestling with doubts and fear, they’re contemplating leaving Jesus… and he says to them, ‘I know it’s hard, but no pain, no gain, right?’ They had not fought against sin and unbelief where they were sweating blood like Jesus, who fulfilled the limits of human ability. Verse 5, another question, have you forgotten what the Scripture says? The writer then quotes Proverbs 3, I’ll read it again.
“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.”
Certainly, each of us swing between the extremes of not regarding, not caring, not thinking, not appreciating the Lord’s discipline and being or feeling crushed by it. To fully understand what’s being communicated, we need to make a distinction between the word discipline in verse 5 and the word chastise in verse 6. I want to especially focus on the idea of discipline. This exact word is only used 6 times in the New Testament, 4 times in our passage and twice by Paul. Here is how the apostle uses the word.
Speaking in the context of parenting, Paul says, ‘bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.’ Eph. 6:4
Citing the sufficiency and authority of Scripture he says, ‘All Scripture is God breathed, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for discipline, for training.’ 2 Tim. 3:16
While our culture often understands discipline with a negative connotation, biblically this is not always the case. Discipline is not punishment; there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. If you think of spiritual disciplines, they are training tools that aid our spiritual growth. If you think of disciplines we teach our children in the tying of their shoes or treating other people as made in the image of God, we are training them to be functional, responsible, and kindhearted people as they launch into the world.
Now back to our Hebrews passage, God brings, allows, purposes for us to be trained, but can there be a punitive form of discipline? Yes, verse 6, sometimes our discipline involves chastisement, this is the same word used in the gospels to describe the flogging of Jesus when he was tortured before his death. The first recipients of the letter are told to understand their suffering in the context of God’s training of them and a corrective act as a parent might spank a child to shape their thinking and behavior.
While there have been abuses, while every parent is imperfect in using discipline and chastisement either being too little or too much, this passage informs us that God’s discipline, training, and even scourging of His children is not an accident, not an act of anger, not a form of abuse, but an affirmation of our belonging to God and His continued pursuit of our hearts.
Verse 7, any man, woman, or child who experiences discipline, they are counted as children, as inheritors, as sons of God. Because of God’s hand on you, his shaping of your affections, his correction by the Spirit, his allowance and ordaining of circumstances, they are, look down at verse 10, they are for our good, that we may share and be shaped into the image of Christ, into a greater holiness. Is it pleasant? Verse 11, no it’s painful. Whether it’s the training of our hearts or God’s refining corrective fires, we all bear the marks of being changed progressively, consistently, and lovingly by the Lord.
But what does it produce? End of verse 11, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, we become trained by discipline, we are sustained by it and enabled by it to be faithful followers of Christ.
Brother and sister, Hebrews 12 is God’s call on your life to rightly understand discipline. Your circumstances are not outside the providence and care of God. Your suffering, your trials, the hurt caused by others, the secret quiet suffering of your own heart, it is not wasted, it is not purposeless. Whether it be addiction or cancer, tragic death or complication in life, bankruptcy or the difficulty of great wealth. Your kids or lack thereof, your dream job or the constant search for purpose and identity, your youthful beauty or the elegance of old age and wisdom. The highs and the lows, the sweet and the bitter.
God works all things for good for those who love Him. Every good and hard situation is God’s sovereign, kind, and fatherly gift being used to shape you, train you, discipline you, correct you, and enliven you, so you would yield the fruit of Christ in your life. Pray and ask God to produce in you the same heart posture of our brother Job who declared this as his heart felt confession, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In God’s good plan, we continue by running, looking to Jesus, we rightly understand discipline, and we finish by a refocused: Resolve to continue, look at verses 12-17 as we finish.
The life of faith is worth it, look at the witnesses of Old that point to God being faithful. We do this by considering, thinking, preaching to ourselves the reality of Jesus. He endured so that the enabling grace of the gospel of Christ would help us not grow weary in our own journey. That means we understand our discipline, not as a mistake, not as an interruption, but God’s training and correction of our hearts to be more like Him.
Therefore, we take action. The Christian life is not a passive one, it’s a call to think, believe, and live according to God’s ways. So in light of our gazing, beholding, becoming like Jesus and receiving the Lord’s guidance we act.
What is the prescription given? We lift and strengthen verse 12, we make straight paths verse 13. In our contemporary vernacular we might say we wake up, take a shower, and take a fresh crack at it. Verse 14-16 is one long run on sentence, and the main clause is found at the beginning, we are to strive for peace with everyone.
The way we continue following the Lord’s ways has a direct impact on our living with others around us in a Christ like manner. It’s part of the holiness, verse 14, that we are to have that displays we’ve been truly changed by the gospel and are born again believers.
There’s much to resolve and aim toward here, but I’d like to make one observation and focus on two significant areas of pastoral wisdom and care the writer provides.
First, I’d like to point out that all of these verses are in the context of a corporate setting, not an individual one. Written to a group of struggling Christians, the urging to lift, strengthen, make, strive… it’s all placed on the Body together. It’s an act, a lifestyle, a conscious resolution of a church to do it together. Verse 15, ‘see to it’ that no one fails to obtain the grace of God. Look out together, search, be aware of those who may be struggling, falling away, see to it they have brothers and sisters around them. Lakewood, would you commit and resolve to this corporate assignment from the Lord?
Yet it’s the end of verse 15 through 17 that I want to sit on for a moment. There is a corporate resolution to see to it, to make sure there is ‘no root of bitterness’ springing up and causing trouble. I’ve been working through a short booklet in my personal reading, discovering that a suppression of anger and hurt, a measure of hostility and pain from the past has required me to own this sin, called bitterness.
Following the pastor’s thoughts through Hebrews, especially the last couple chapters. If you and I do not have an assurance, conviction, trust, and confidence that is a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are not looking to Him as we lay aside weights and sins, if we wrongly understand God’s discipline, training, and correction, if we interpret our circumstances outside of a gospel lens, if we elevate ourselves and not Christ, we will be bitter. And I’m certain I’m not the only one here who struggles with this.
Of all the sins that could be listed, the pastor knows that Christians, when they wrongly view their sufferings and circumstances, they will become bitter and it will lead to trouble and defilement. If you have past hurts, if you project those hurts wrongly onto others, if your anger has been covered up by Christian niceties, if you’ve suppressed it all and there’s a root of bitter water that spills out of you when you are tipped over by people and situations, bring it to the Lord. Cast your cares and sins on Him. Own your bitterness, seek to offer forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it, and protect yourself from being a joyless man and woman. Lift your drooping hands, strengthen those weak knees and muscles, strive for peace, be healed.
The second prescription is brought to us through the historical narrative of Esau in verses 16 and 17. If you go back and read Genesis 25 and 27, you read of family dysfunction, they all had their issues. But it was an older brother named Esau who sold his inheritance from God for a bowl of stew.
Our writer here in Hebrews 12:16 says that we are not to be sexually immoral or unholy like Esau. Now some have argued that this is a comment based upon the two women that he decided to marry that displeased his parents, and that could be, but I think another point is being made.
Esau was a man motivated by his appetites and cravings. Like someone pursuing sexual immorality, he chose instant gratification over being faithful to the timing of God’s ways and provisions. He had irreversible loss due to despising what is sacred, he treated the holy things of God as worthless. He is brought forward as another warning as we’ve seen many through the letter now.
To be swayed by our feelings, to give into our appetites and cravings, to face circumstance, oppression, and suffering and to take the easy way, the quick way it brings dire consequences. Esau was unable to repent, unable to reverse his decision, unable to come back from his unfaithfulness.
Think back on our prior sermons… chapter 2, don’t drift, chapter 3, don’t harden your hearts and fall away, chapter 4, seek to enter true rest, chapter 6 it is impossible to fall away finally and be restored truly, chapter 10, draw near to God while you can, it’s a fearful thing to be in the hands of the living God. Here is our passage, don’t go back to the Old ways, don’t be bitter, don’t take the easy way out, it will only lead to trouble.
We are brought to a resolution, a volitional choice and action. Lift, strengthen, make, strive, see to it… or as we said: This is God’s good plan, keep going!
The mind God has given you, the life He’s assigned, the family you’ve been born in, the State in which you reside, the country to which you belong, the circumstances you are fighting, the pain you are experiencing, the evil you see in you and around you, your joys and delights, your milestones and celebrations, it is the Lord’s weaving all things for His glory and your good.
You become what you behold. So through the pastor, God moves and works to provide you Hebrews 12. A fresh vision of Christ in trials. He is better, look to Him as you run.