The hard edge of God’s Discipline

When God says, "No!" and crosses our desire, it is not pleasant. In fact, the deeper the issue, the more it hurts. What am I talking about? Take this example. A young woman who is a Believer allows herself to become attached to a guy who is not a follower of Jesus. Then, there is that moment when her conscience is stirred by the Spirit who says, "No." The truth of the Scripture that forbids the intermarriage of Christian and non-believer confronts her. It’s a heart-breaking moment. The temptation is to choose what feels good and shrug off possible consequences.

Every Believer has these moments of decision in which they must decide if they trust God to lead them to the best life or if they will assume ‘lordship’ and do what they want to do. I can tell you from experience that sometimes doing His will feels like dying! We are wise children of the Father if we obey Him, but there will be tears when we meet the hard edge of God’s discipline.

The true test of a parent’s love is his willingness to endure the anger of his child when he tells the child he must do something he does not want to do. When I had teenagers I loved them so much. It was great to be able to give them the things they wanted, to share the happy moments of life with them. But there were darker moments, too! My love for them caused me to enforce curfew to keep them out of trouble, to tell them to get their priorities in order by getting their work done first before hanging out with friends. It wasn’t much fun for me to feel their displeasure and I knew it wasn’t much fun for them to have to obey! But my aim was not just to exercise my authority. I was trying to provide training and discipline to benefit them later in life.

The Scripture teaches us that our Heavenly Father also sometimes says, "No" to us for our own good, because He really loves us. "So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children.
Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them.
But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God." – (Hebrews 12:5-11, The Message)

Have you encountered the hard edge of God’s discipline, disciple?
Have you found yourself confronted with a clear choice - to do what you want or to submit to Him?
Don’t excuse, rationalize, or delay! Cry if you must, but pray for strength to die to Self and to make the choice for obedience. Though you may not see it then, the time will come when you will see that He always had your best in His heart, that He is a loving Father.
_____________________

Lord, my sole desire is to serve You,
To honor You in everything I do;
I surrender and lay down my life to You,
Holy Spirit, come now and break through.

Break through the chains in my life,
Tear down the strongholds and the walls;
Deliver me from all bondage and strife,
That I may hear when You call
And give You my all, O Lord, my all.
I give You my all, O Lord, my all,
I give You my all, O Lord, my all,
I give You my all.

Break Through The Chains
McDonald, Gary / Walker, Tommy
© 1995 Integrity's Hosanna! Music (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.) / Integrity's Praise! Music (c/o Integrity Music, Inc.) CCLI License No. 810055