A doctor friend once said, “Doctors are not to cause harm, but they may hurt.” I had to pause and think about that for a moment. Surgeons cause pain when they cut through tissue to fix a problem. Hurt leads to healing. Harm leads to damage.
This brought to mind what the writer of Hebrews stated in 12:6, when he quoted Proverbs 3:11, “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” The writer goes on to say that God allows challenges as discipline in order to make us more like Jesus or holy.
God allows challenges, hurt, to draw us closer to Him and away from stuff that will damage our lives, sin/harm. Discipline hurts but does no harm. The Proverbs passage goes on to say, “Do not be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”
Challenges are a sign of love. Your loving Father simply wants to cut out the damage of sin to allow the healing of His love to make your life better, which is being like Jesus. Don’t resent challenges, embrace them as a way of surrender.