God’s love in many ways is akin to a Father’s love. A good father, like God the Father, loves his children with an active kind of love. A good father, like God the Father also disciplines his own.
God’s discipline or chastening may take many forms but generally can be described as a change in circumstances, e.g., an illness, a broken relationship, financial hardship, a major disappointment, a betrayal, a set back, job loss, loss of funds, etc. This does not mean that every bad thing that comes our way is sent as a punishment by God. But it bears investigating.
The disciplines that are sanctioned by God are divinely orchestrated. In other words, God’s plans - even the uncomfortable moments are perfect and spring out of love. God only chastises his beloved!
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:5-11
The concept of correcting a child out of love is not foreign to us. On this side of glory, we have learned that children who are taught right from wrong through a series of metered punishments, time outs, and withholdings grow up to be more responsible, selfless adults. Those unfortunate children who are never rebuked or scolded tend to grow up to be self centered, disrespectful and willful adults unconcerned with the needs or feelings of others. This is documented.
Similarly, the Christian that is rebuked and scolded benefits from such chastisements. If we, as followers of Christ, accept and learn from our punishments, we will be better, stronger, and more equipped for the next battle.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
Make no mistake, we are engaged in spiritual warfare. And yet, we need not be worried. God has already won the battle. We simply must withstand to the end. See, Spirit Life Has it’s Privileges
How do we withstand?
We can stand because we are not only well equipped, but we have been trained by the best. Think of it like this: the series of chastisements that we face serve as a type of bootcamp designed to teach us, refine us, and prepare us not only for the next battle but for life in eternity with God. These refinements are necessary because “only the righteous shall see God.”
Now that we understand the value of God’s chastisements. How do we ensure that these chastisements serve their purpose of refining our character to resemble the character of Jesus?
Chastisements do not work automatically to refine us. In fact, there is a right and wrong way of dealing with God’s chastisements.
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a] Hebrews 12:5-6
- We must not make light of the Lord’s discipline
In today’s society, we have become somewhat desensitized to the hardships that plague us and others. We can be so nonchalant that we become impersonal and loosely attached to our fellow man, to our family, to our children. We no longer feel responsible for others. Therefore we can easily walk away from our obligations to them.
These days, we celebrate the man or woman who is able to deal dispassionately with painful circumstances. “She/he is so strong,” we say! “She/he is putting on such a brave front.” But sometimes we can take this “brave front” too far. We can anesthetize ourselves with mood altering drugs/alcohol, a party, or reckless behavior in an effort to escape painful circumstances. “You had a bad day at work? No worries, lets go to happy hour.”
Instead of trying to escape our punishments, we should take time to analyze them with God’s help. When we are in the midst of a chastisement, we should take a moment to examine ourselves to discern what God is really trying to show us.
Ask yourself: Is God trying to get my attention? Am I on the right path? Have I strayed? Is there a sin in my life that I need to address? Am I not spending enough time with God? Am I in danger? Have I elevated another person, place, thing and displaced God in my life?
Don’t skip through your hardships without examination. Pay attention! God may be trying to tell you something. Go to Him and ask Him for clarification.
2. We must not lose heart or become bitter
It is essential that we do not “faint” under the burden of God’s punishments. We cannot give up. We cannot slide into despair. We must not grumble and complain. We must not become bitter. God has not given us up. FAINT NOT!
Notice that we unconsciously communicate who we are by how we behave under difficult circumstances.
Those who are not children of God tend to become bitter when faced with misfortune. Sometimes even God’s own feel bitter temporarily. But we are warned in Hebrews to RESIST this response.
IT IS VITAL THAT WE RESIST THE REACTIONS LISTED ABOVE!
We must not take our chastisements lightly, we must not lose heart, we must not become bitter.
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? Hebrews 12:5
According to D Martyn Lloyd-Jones, this scripture should be read as: Ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as GROWN MEN.
“When we are [punished as] children we always think we are being death with harshly, that it is most unfair of our parents and that we do not deserve it. That is the child’s reaction and, spiritually, some of us remain children. But this [scripture] says: ‘Now remember that you are not children. You are men, you are sons, you are adults.’ -D. Martyn Lloyd Jones
Pull yourself together!
Do you remember the Pixar animated fim, The Incredibles featuring fictional character, Edna Mode. In one of my favorite scenes, Elasti-Girl visits Edna and has a meltdown. She believes her husband is having an affair and she, despondent, cries out, “What will I do?”
Edna, the diminutive designer of super hero costumes, jumps on the table in front of Elasti-Girl and exclaims,
“What are you talking about? You are Elast-Girl. My God, pull yourself together. What will you do? Is this a question? You will show him you remember that he is Mr. Incredible. And you will remind him who you are.…Go! Confront the problem. Fight. Win. And call me when you get back, darling.” The Incredibles
What must we do when confronted by a real painful change in our circumstances?
We must remember the word of EXHORTATION!
When things go wrong in the life of a Christian, we fall back on the Word of God. We go to the Scriptures to find out what the Scriptures say and then we apply it to our lives.
But do not read the Scriptures passively. Instead, we follow the logic of it and bring intelligence to our reading. The Scriptures are not meant to merely soothe and comfort, Your favorite Psalm is not merely an incantation. No! Follow the logic and let the scriptures reason with you.
THE ARGUMENT:
“The great argument is that it is God who is doing this, and God is doing it to you because you are His child.”
9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. Hebrews 12:9-10
The TRUTH is that because God is doing this to us for our good, we do not make light of it, we do not lose heart, we do not become bitter.
We say: GOD IS IN THIS AND GOD IS DOING THIS TO ME BECAUSE I AM HIS CHILD, BECAUSE I DO NOT BELONG TO THE WORLD, BECAUSE HE SENT HIS SON TO DIE FOR ME AND HAS DESTINED ME FOR HEAVEN. GOD IS IN THIS, AND IT IS ALL BEING DONE FOR MY GOOD.
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,”[b] so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Hebrews 12: 11-12
In order to be transformed into the image of Jesus the Christ, we must be strengthened. We must exercise. We must go through God’s boot camp.
We must put our tin hat on, thrust our CHIN UP and out, accept the trial and endure the pain.
But, darlings, we are not in this alone. We are well equipped remember! See Spirit Life Has Its Privileges
Trust that this refining process yields dividends. Through this process we become HOLY in the sight of God.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Hebrews 12:14
Without holiness, no man shall see God!
I promise, darling.
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