21 Days of Deep LivingSample

Time Out

God as Our Father takes on many roles.

One fatherly role that we may not speak about often is that God is a disciplinarian. It is very important that a parent lay out guidelines and rules for their children so that they grow up in a way that is pleasing to the parent. Have you ever seen a child having a tantrum in a supermarket? In this situation, it’s hard not to think, “That kid needs a good [insert disciplinary action of choice]”. And although the child is the one misbehaving, oftentimes judgment is passed onto the parent. The parent shares responsibility for the child’s actions and therefore has the authority to correct them.

This is the same in our relationship with the Father; when we do things that we shouldn’t - or fail to do the things that we should. God has both the responsibility and authority to correct us as it reflects on Him - we are His children, after all.

We feel so loved when we experience the blessings of God in our lives. However, to stop there and not acknowledge His Discipline also, we downplay its necessity and diminish the limitless scope of God’s Love for us. It may be tough to take at times, but that’s what it is - Tough Love! It won’t always feel like it but as mentioned in our anchor Scripture, discipline from the Father is a display of Love.

God’s Discipline could be allowing us to experience the consequences of our actions. He wants us to learn from our mistakes and understand the Biblical Truths and principles necessary for us to grow in our faith. Hebrews 12:11 says "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it’." Getting closer to God means embracing His Love but also His Discipline.

We cry out to God to rescue us from messy situations that we have gotten ourselves into because of our sin. We can recall King David who had murdered a man and impregnated his wife. David was disciplined by God when he experienced the death of that child that he begged God to save. It was painful and hard to bear, but God deemed it necessary.

Yet we must remember that God is slow to anger and full of kindness, and as a father, after disciplining his child, shows that repentant child love, God then blessed David and Bathsheba with an heir, King Solomon. God saw that the heart of David had changed and that he truly saw his error. Note, God did not require David to leave Bathsheba but only to experience His discipline through their loss. Following that, they all moved on from there. Solomon became the wisest King to have ever walked the Earth and also built the long-anticipated Temple of God.

As children of God, we need to hear His Word and obey His Voice of correction because He’s the One that knows best - not us. His Love manifests in more ways than we may be comfortable to accept. If we were to let our children have their own way, they’d become spoiled and come to ruin. We know what’s best for our children as God knows what’s best for us. Let us respond to His Discipline so that as we grow we can avoid the consequences of wrong choices and poor decisions.