The word "discipline" often connotes some form of punishment. Back in school, no one wanted to be called into the Disciplinarian's Office, as it usually meant that they would suffer an undesirable occurrence, usually a detention or work detail. In my younger days, it could also mean some severe physical hardship at the hands of nuns, God's perfect human discipinarians! It generally involved a perceived loss of personal freedom, and often entailed either physical labor or unbearable tedium. In short, it wasn't any fun.
Perhaps a more common vision of "discipline" is one that is rendered by parents, particularly a father. As a child, whenever I violated a household rule, I knew that discipline would be swiftly forthcoming. If I "talked back" to my mother, or fought with my sister, I knew that I would pay the consequences. Usually, a stern talking-to by my father was enough to get me back on the right path, but sometimes -- fortunately not often -- harsher action was needed. At the time, that discipline seemed mean, and I often pouted and grumbled about it afterwards. However, it wasn't long before I began to appreciate the purpose behind the discipline. It really was for my own good, and it helped mold me into a respectful gentleman. It also helped insure that the family operated and interacted smoothly in an atmosphere of love and respect.
Are we disciplined by God? The Bible is pretty clear that the answer is a definitive "yes". This discipline can and does take many forms, some of which are difficult to understand at the time. Often, our first urge it to ask "Why me?" and question God's actions -- or seeming inaction. It seems unfair, and we begin to doubt God's intentions or even His existence. We've all been there.
What does the author of Hebrews say about this? Quite a lot, actually. Most of Hebrews Chapter 12 is devoted to this subject.
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son." -- Hebrews 12: 5-6
He continues:
"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? ... 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 our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. 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: 7-11
While it may not seem pleasant, and we might not understand the exact reasons for the discipline, we must trust that God is doing or allowing it for our own good. Like our human fathers, He wants to mold us. However, His purpose is even greater; He wants to mold us into the image of Christ. He wants us to grow, mature and develop spiritually, and in the process, to become more like His Son.
So when discipline comes our way -- in whatever form it may take -- try to look upon it as an opportunity for growth. This doesn't necessarily make the pain we are experiencing any less real, but it does give us perspective and helps us endure and persevere. Indeed, in Romans, Paul tells us we are to "rejoice in our sufferings."
Rejoice? C'mon, Paul. You gotta be kidding ... right? No, not at all. As Paul explains:
" ... we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverence; perseverence, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." -- Romans 5: 3-5
Jesus' brother James also echoes this sentiment:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverence. Perseverence must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything." -- James 1: 2-3
God wants us to persevere in the face of discipline and suffering, as this produces character and hope. We grow. We become more like Christ. And there is a further reward, as James promises:
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."
-- James 1: 12
"As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered." -- James 5: 11
So, there are ample rewards to discipline and persevering through the trials of suffering. We will grow and mature, become more like Christ, and ultimately be richly blessed for our faith and perseverence. Those rewards may not come on this earth, but they will come. God promises it ... and He doesn't break promises!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I sent this message to my cousin Greg and he suggested that I post it. I am Greg's cousin, Shannon, from New Orleans and suffered the tragic loss of my son 6 years ago. Here are my comments:
Hey Greg! As I read your post, I became very emotional as all I could think of was the pain I endured 6 years ago and still endure daily.
I will never understand why I lost my son and lots of thoughts have crossed my mind over the years - like what could I have possibly done to be disciplined like this?? Well I will never know but I do know that he was with me through it all and will bless me for turning to him for comfort. I know that God will never give me more than I can handle and of course the other big question everyone asks - why me??? I truly believe God wanted to bring me closer to him during my grief. Who am I to question him and his works. I am now completely devoted to him and his word. I wouldn't be here without him - because of him I have a wonderful husband of almost 12 years, and 3 beautiful children. Whether he was disciplining me or not, is irrevelent - I could have taken a very different path but he didn't let me go, he blessed me with a little girl who needed her Mommy and a husband who needed his wife. Then, he blessed me even more with Christopher (the image of his big brother) and little Emily. Nothing is up to us - it is all in his hands and I give it to him daily and I thank him for all he has done.
I am just beginning my journey with our Lord and still have a lot to learn, however, I do know that he has truly blessed me for turning to him and not against him during my suffering and he will do the same for everyone - he doesn't break promises!!
Very good post and of all things, I was immediately reminded--of all things--by a quote from Morgan Freeman reprising his role as "God" in Evan Almighty. Now don't worry, I don't get all of my theology from Hollywood but every now and then some concept is expressed which makes sense and does tie in with "discipline" to a certain extent. I don't have the movie handy but the interchange was "Noah" asking "God" why He did bad things to good people (remember the book similarly named though I don't think it was a direct reference). "God" assures "Noah" that it is not He that does the bad things but He does confess that He does allow people to use their "God-given" talents to overcome the challenge. Like I said, that's not the exact movie exchange but it does bring up a valuable point: unrefined is usually ugly.
Now that I have you confused, let's analogize. I'm in the precious metals field: gold, silver, etc., and what I see daily is a far cry from what came out of the dust of the ground. Ore is encrusted with rock and other minerals and rarely has the eye appeal we so often associate with the beautiful refined jewelry we are familiar with. The ore must be extracted from the rock/minerals layers usually by crushing it and then always by melting it in extreme heat and maybe chemically separating the elements, too. Even then, "shiny" is still a ways off.
We occasionally buy scrap jewelry pieces from jewelry crafters which they have melted down into ingots of a certain purity, i.e., 10kt, 12kt, 18kt, whatever and even those "purer" specimens are far from pretty with a cloudy, dusty appearance. At this point, it has been melted at least twice by extreme heat and still doesn't look good.
No, what it takes is a crafter who is willing to pour molten gold into a form, or beat it with a hammer into shape, form it into an attractive piece of jewelry and buff the thing for maybe hours until it shines worthy of being displayed in Heaven! Hmmm!
A secularist would define this process as torture if the ore were human, but those in the know realize that anything worth anything must be meticulously refined. A piece of ore laying on a table will remain a rock until someone takes the initiative to "beat it" into shape! I'm sure the ore would prefer being left alone to its own devices and remain a rock, but a person who knows how valuable that rock can become with a little work . . .
It seems to me somewhere in time, God has given us the choice of being ore or refined gold. Notice I didn't say He chose for us. He just gave us the opportunity to chose. He doesn't torch us or whack us with a hammer but He does allow others or ourselves to do the refining, to choose to be rocks or purified gold. People who love us or hate us can wield the torch or the hammer, but the end result should be the same.
Our own Savior yelled from the cross "My God, why have You forsaken me?" He didn't say "Why are You doing this to me?" The implication is that God withdrew His presence from Jesus, not to deny Him but to allow US to "beat and extract" the pure gold of salvation from the most innocent among us. Jesus asked forgiveness for the "present jewelers" because they "didn't know what they were doing" and aren't we believers glad that they did. Well, not quite. But you get the point.
So the very human Morgan Freeman--as "God"--reveals that God's Plan isn't necessarily relevant to our perceptions in the "what kind of God would . . . " crowd. Maybe our failures to listen and understand highlights the need for additional refinement in our personal little worlds of finite existence and knowledge (although aren't we all the "adolescents" in this faith thing that think we already "know it all" with the limited spiritual experience we think is expansive . . . (teenager parents can relate, huh?)
Ore or refined gold? It's really easy to be a rock. But it sure does smart facing torches, melting pots and forming hammers. No pain, no gain isn't biblical . . . but neither is Morgan Freeman . . . but they do make sense just the same.
One of the best things about being a Christian is realizing that there is a purpose in everything: suffering included. As scripture points out, it is those times of suffering that ultimately produce character and so when facing trials our best reaction is a right attitude. For this we can look to Joseph in Genesis.
People too often mistake suffering for discipline. God does allow suffering (always for our good). He also allows us to face the consequences of our own wrong actions. Because He is full of grace, He sometimes even rescues us.
On the whole, because we are His we should be able to trust Him when our days are bright and also when they're dark. He's always with us and His purposes are to the good ends of those who love Him. We can always count on that.
Post a Comment