To Encourage You

Hebrews 12:13 “Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”

Some people have a propensity, when they face some difficulty or trial, to respond in ways that just make things worse.  Examples are when we try to hide a wrongdoing, or when we try to cover up one lie by telling another.  As one of my former bosses would sometimes say, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” In the verse above, God is essentially telling us the same thing.  In context, this passage from Hebrews 12 is talking about the hard things that God sometimes allows to touch our lives as a means of His discipline. He allows these things primarily for one purpose, i.e., to turn us from the path of sin and the damage it will inevitably bring upon us to a much better way that will enable us to “share in his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10) and the blessings that come from following Him.  When God brings His discipline into our lives, it is to heal the “lameness,” i.e., the impairment that is the walk of sin and spiritual ignorance. However, it is possible for a person to react in the opposite way that God would have for us.  The correct reaction of a Christian to a trial is to draw closer to God through prayer and by searching His Word, for as the Lord has told us, His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).  It’s in this way that we “make straight paths for our feet” in response to God’s loving discipline. But if we resist, rebel, and go our own way, we are headed in a direction, not of healing, but of being put even further “out of joint.”

If you’ve ever stumbled in the darkness and injured a hip, you know what this is like in a physical sense.  In a spiritual sense it is to pursue another path other than that provided by the wonderful light of the Word of God. It’s the path of seeking the counsel of unbelieving friends, secular counselors, and the ways of the world. Or it could be a reaction of bitterness, anger, anxiety, or fear.  There are lots of ways “that seem right to (men) but (their) end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Be assured that that is never what God has for us. That’s never where He wants our path to lead.  But it’s up to us which path we will take. Trials, temptations, and the other  troubles of this world can drive us ever nearer to our God or they can drive us further away.  Obviously, one path leads to healing, while the other leads to further disfunction or even death.

So, are you facing some difficulty today?  Is your world being turned upside down?  If so, and you are a Christian, know that God may simply be treating you as one of His sons or daughters (Hebrews 12:7) as He works to make you more and more like His only begotten and holy Son. His will is for us to draw near to Him, not turn and run away, for there is no ultimate healing or fruitfulness in any other path we might take.