Welcome to "Joni and Friends"; hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada.
You know, there’s a Civil War story I read some time ago about a woman who sought the favor of Abraham Lincoln on behalf of her soldier son who, apparently, committed an act of treason. He was sent before the war court and the military found her son guilty. They sentenced him to hanging. But the mother, undaunted by this distressing news, scraped and clawed all the way to the top to gain the ear of the President of the United States. Lincoln was taken with the woman's tenacity. He admired her resolve, as well as her devotion to her family. So, after reviewing the soldier's case, Lincoln gave her son a pardon. Nevertheless, he hesitated to rejoice about the decision. It gave him no pleasure to hand down that pardon; it was a decision he gave with seriousness, saying to the mother, "Your son may be free, but I still wish we could give him a little bit of hanging."
Lincoln had it right, didn’t he? Nothing drives home the sweetness of freedom like the bitter taste of a little bit of punishment. Nothing reinforces the blessings of a pardon like standing on the block with the noose around your neck minutes before. A little bit of hanging – if that were actually possible – would have given that soldier a deep appreciation for his pardon and a deep sense of how wrong, of how serious his act of disobedience was. And you know what? This is the way it works with suffering. When you and I go through hellish circumstances, it’s God's way of giving us a “little bit of hanging”; a tiny taste of the hell he actually saved us from - suffering is, in fact, "a little bit of hanging." As I often say, suffering is hell's splash over, always waking us up out of our spiritual slumber, and making us appreciate all that Christ has rescued us from. Our deepest sufferings are a bitter but a very small taste of the ultimate thing. The result? We appreciate just how wrong, just how serious our sin really is, plus we value our redemption so much more. Our salvation tastes all the sweeter. Through earthly suffering, the blessings of our pardon from eternal suffering are powerfully driven home. It’s exactly like Psalm 119:67-68, which says, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees."
Oh, friend, I want you to think about your hardships this way today. Yes, they are painful; yes, the suffering may even feel harsh, and it hurts. But consider those hardships you’re facing today as just a little spoonful of hell, a little splash over of hell, reminding you the eternal pain that Christ has delivered you from. If you can look at your hardships this way, then you’re seeing them from God's point of view; you’re seeing the value in them, the purpose.
For if we never "went through hell" on earth, how could we possibly appreciate the gift of heaven? How could we appreciate all that God has saved us from? Another verse in Psalm 119 describes this so well where it says, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.” As these verses from Psalm 119 remind us, it is good that we've been afflicted; because from it, we learn of God's decrees, and His law becomes a safe refuge; we stop straying from His side, and we make obedience to God our goal. So let me ask you: Have you experienced "a little bit of hanging" lately? Well, memorize these verses from Psalm 119 (before I was afflicted, I went astray. It is good that I’ve been afflicted so I might learn God's decrees). Memorize that part of Psalm 119 and savor those verses as your declaration of pardon.
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