Yeah, Discipline!

What’s funny in today’s reading (Hebrews 12) is that when most people go through difficult crap, they assume it’s not God. In fact, we’ll tell our friends, “God isn’t causing this. We just live in a painful world…” And, on those occasions when we assume our difficulties come from God, we get angry and point accusing fingers at Him.

Here we’re taught just the opposite: “Endure discipline as sons.” Face the reality that what you’re dealing with may be from God, in fact, you might want to assume it is. BUT don’t get angry, see it as an expression of God’s love for you: “God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?”

When a (good) parent punishes their child, it’s not out of anger or to make the kid suffer for no reason, it’s loving correction to point the child’s life in a different and better direction. So why won’t we allow God to be a good parent to us? Why not at least see the possibility that the pain we’re dealing with could be God disciplining us to show us the error of our ways and lead us to a better place?

So take this out of the theoretical and make it practical: How does this apply to your life today?