Scripture: Hebrews 12:7-11 (ESV)
“It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 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.”
In The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, the children in the story are told about Aslan the great lion. They have yet to meet Aslan, and so Mr. Beaver explains:
“Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “Safe?” said Mr Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.”
Safety isn’t always good and what is good for you isn’t always “safe”. For our overseas readers, I write this from Melbourne in Australia. I live in a city that has the unenviable title of the “most locked down city in the world”. During the Covid pandemic, we endured the longest and harshest lockdowns of any place on earth. This was meant to keep me safe, but it was not for my good. I remember vividly one experience where after weeks of being couped up, really experiencing cabin fever. It just so happened that one of my best friends’ 5km radius of permittable travel overlapped my 5km radius at a local lake. We agreed to meet up and walk around said lake for our 1 hour of daily permitted exercise. As we walked around the lake my cabin fever disappeared and even that short interaction replenished my social bucket enough for me to return somewhat to normal. I often think back to that time, because what was good for me was not “safe”. And what was safe, ended up being bad for me.
That somewhat captures the essence of what the author of Hebrews writes here about God’s discipline. It sometimes doesn’t feel safe, but it is always for our good. It always has a purpose. The text emphasizes that our discipline us for two reasons. The first is that we may share in his holiness.
Discipline is God’s way to shape us to be like him. To share in his holiness. Hebrews tells us that this is why we must endure discipline. It isn’t because God is some sort of masochistic being, who delights in bringing suffering to his people. Rather it is because God loves us enough to cut out the unholiness in us with a surgeon’s knife. Holiness surgery hurts, and it must be endured, but it makes us healthy. It may not feel safe, but it is good.
The second reason God disciplines us is so that we may be trained to “yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness”. Notice this is something that takes time. It is not something that happens overnight. And it is something we participate in by allowing our unredeemed selves to be bent, shaped and molded by the discipline. To get a little poetic, we have to yield to God’s discipline, in order for the discipline to yield its fruit in us.
So how do you view God’s discipline in your life? Is it something you fight?
Or do you welcome God’s discipline, painful as it may be, because you know in faith, that in the long term it will yield holiness in you?
Prayer:
Father, please discipline me with your loving fatherly hand. Lord I know this is a dangerous prayer to pray. But what is good for me isn’t always safe by human standards. Help me have the faith to trust in your loving correction. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Today, when faced with difficulty or correction, take a moment to thank God for shaping you, growing you and building holiness in you.