The fact that these Hebrew recipients had suffered much could not be denied. The writer has already recalled the persecutions of those earlier days when they had endured so much. (10:32-34) He would not minimize what they had suffered but it must all be kept in context. They had not yet been asked to shed their blood. They had not yet suffered martyrdom, as had so many of the saints of faith referred to in chapter 11. A true father will discipline his sons for the molding and building of character so they can stand in the day of adversity. “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord.” In His sovereignty, wisdom, and love, the Father will chasten and admonish us, and will turn adverse and hostile circumstances for our good. So then, rather than faint under the adversity and the difficulties of the way, we ought to view them as the Father’s means of teaching us something about Him and His program.