Sometimes, in a less than friendly moment, one Christian may say to another who is suffering, "Well, clearly God is disciplining you." Can I tell you what the right answer to that statement is? The right answer is, yes, He is, and I thank you for saying that, because that means, according to Hebrews chapter 12, that I am one that He loves. The fact is, though, that God's discipline coming through various different trials and means that He puts in our lives, it hurts, and it's hard, and yet, at the same time, we're expected to continue serving Him, and continue being faithful in our families and in our local churches, and to proclaim the Gospel, but it is, in fact, that very discipline that makes us more able to serve. It qualifies us to serve, and so just understand that the discipline of the Lord is like a workout for an athlete. It makes you better at what it is you're called to do.