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BRAVER THAN LIONS
Sam Stringer
Oct 23, 2024
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and
discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have
forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the
LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and
scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for
what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have
become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
Hebrews 12:3-8
There are so many things we do in this life that we just simply forget. There are so many items (keys anyone?
remotes?) we sit down and go on to forget where we put them. People’s names, the location of certain places, what
day it is, sometimes our own birthday…we forget. How many times have we heard of a husband forgetting it’s he
and his wife’s anniversary? How many times does Valentine’s Day come (it’s once a year, always on February
14 th …) and you go over to Walmart only to see a congregation of men looking high and low for a gift for their wife?
Pathetic, but common! (I’ve done this, too…)
When we endure difficulties in the Christian walk, setbacks and wounds and putdowns and so forth, it’s
important that we place all of that into the context of the overarching, loving, chastening of the Lord. God
allows nothing to come into the life of a believer that isn’t meant for their good and their growth. It’s very
easy to feel so isolated in our troubles that we forget the troubles of other believers, the severity many
are going through that we’ve never experienced whatsoever, and we easily get discouraged and sulk.
When we forget that some evidence of God’s love in our life is our hardships being used to refine us, we
fall into all sorts of mental traps of bemoaning our station.
The writer of Hebrews says, “Consider Him (Jesus) who endured such hostility from sinners against
Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed,
striving against sin.” A seminary teacher of mine used to give the analogy that if you apply pressure to a
pencil, in time it will break. Imagine you had an iron bar, though, and no matter how much pressure you
applied to it, it never broke. The question he would raise is, “So who do you think endured more
temptation and hostility, you or Jesus?” Satan did his worst when it came to Jesus, and nothing would
throw Christ off, nothing would draw out sin, so he just turned up the dial again and again and again.
The Bible tells us right here, if you’re facing discouragement and weariness of soul, remember the Man
Christ Jesus who went through all Hell could throw at Him so you could be free in Him today. Hebrews 12
essentially says to us, “Don’t forget the Lord who loves you, Who does this to ALL of His children, Who is
preparing them for glory. Don’t forget that if you don’t see these things as you’re following Him, that
should make you more concerned than the opposition you’re facing.” What does Hebrews 12:8 say? “If
you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.”
I hope for you that there’s no mystery along the path as to whether you’re heading in the right eternal
direction. Salvation and glorification are the two bookends of a life in Christ that will have plenty of
chapters of success and pain and joy and weariness in the stories. Without the bigger context of God’s
loving chastening, you might be very tempted many days to throw in the towel and to dismiss any notion
of bravery. Contextualize your life in the light of His love and nurture, however that looks in the varying
moments. Be braver than lions.
Sam Stringer
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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