Hebrews Part 3: Sleepy ChristianitySample

Is God Preparing You for Something Bigger?

Being a Christian isn’t just about believing—it’s about becoming. And becoming like Jesus takes discipline. God doesn’t waste pain. He uses it to toughen your soul, train your character, and get you ready for battles you don’t even see coming. Every hard season is His way of fathering you for what’s ahead.

To be a disciple literally means we have to learn to be disciplined in how we live our lives. God uses the tough seasons to build our character, increase our pain tolerance, and teach us lessons we will never forget. We need all of this to prepare for the future that He sees and we do not. Like any parent, our Father allows a little bit of hardship today to help us prevent a lot of hardship tomorrow.

If you have ever seen an adult who was not parented or disciplined as a child, you know that they are self-destructing because they were not prepared to live as an adult. The same is true for God’s children. God is not punishing you; God is using the hardships in your life to prepare you to endure this life and all that it brings.

That’s why pain isn’t proof that God’s against you—it’s proof that He’s investing in you. A good Father trains His kids to handle the weight of real life, not run from it. So instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” start asking, “What is God teaching me through this?” The lesson might be challenging, but it’s exactly what you’ll need for the road ahead.

What’s one hard thing you’re facing right now—and how can you lean into it as training instead of trying to escape it?