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Hebrews Chapter Twelve

Heb. 12:10~11

A new worker’s first experience in painting a car held many surprises for him. One of those took place after the car’s fresh coat of new paint was totally dry. The novice looked with favor on the finished product, only to see his greatly experienced trainer come by and begin to sand the paint with sandpaper. The apprentice was shocked, even angered at what the other man was doing to the finish, so he began to complain. But the supervisor continued to sand. After he had sanded the entire car he took out his buffer and, using a special compound, began to buff the places he had sanded. The result left the student painter shocked, but pleased. For, you see, the sanding made all the paint even and clean, and the buffing brought out a new shine—so bright when compared with the previous shine that it hardly looked like the same color. What appeared to be destroying the paint was in fact bringing out its deepest shine.

Paul tells us in this passage that God’s discipline may not be pleasant, but its aim is to brighten our polish and reveal the shine of our righteousness.