For the Moment

“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” Hebrews 12:11.

‘For the moment’…three haunting words at first glance but shrouded in hope if we really believe in God’s faithfulness. ‘For the moment’ can seem like forever when circumstances are challenging, and we take our eyes off God. My husband Bruce just had a knee replacement and his ...‘For the moment’ is trying to walk again. His ‘moment’ is extremely painful and slow enduring. His moment is without the knowledge of how long his healing with take. ‘For the moment’ it is anything but pleasant, however Bruce understands that phrase well. He anchors his heart in the truth of what follows…but later. Those precious words that scream ‘Your current situation will have an end. Your circumstances will transform into something good. This pain will yield a better version of yourself than when you originally entered this situation.’

James MacDonald, author of When Life Gets Hard, lays out three essential truths in going through any trial or circumstances. He writes that ‘The pain of trials is momentary, the profit of trials is immense and the promise of trials is conditional.’ Bruce and I are well aware that this experience had a beginning and will have an end. We understand that the profit from this experience will be that he lives in freedom from walking with pain. We also understand that profit will only come through the condition that he rehabs his knee, pushes himself where appropriate and endures the trial. But in all of these truths there is one essential anchor…God.

‘We can be assured that God knows exactly what we are going through. He knows us intimately, and He knows in exact detail what’s going on. He grasps even the parts of your difficulties that are eluding you. He knows the results He desires for you…What is happening in your life right now is not the result of God’s inattentiveness or lack of concern for you…God knows the way your life is going. And no matter how dark and overwhelming the pathway may seem now, He has good things ahead’, p. 33.

Be encouraged that no matter what your circumstances are at this moment you have your own ‘but later’ up ahead. So walk in the truth that in this moment every detail of your circumstances will bring profit to your life if you submit these details to God. He is our condition and our hope.