I think of God’s discipline in our lives this way: Take for example, those of you who have children.
God wants us to confess, apologize and repent when we mess up, have bad thoughts, and say or do things we shouldn’t, just like you want your kids to do for you.
Repenting means truly apologizing, offering a heartfelt apology and promising to do your best to not act that way again. The word “repent” actually means to “turn away from” that behavior. As flawed humans, we are continually in need of turning away from our negative thoughts, words and behavior, and striving to do better.
Parents don’t expect their kids to be perfect. In fact, they know that they’ll make mistakes again and again. It’s part of their growing up and learning experience. The hope is that each time they mess up, they will grow and learn from their mistakes. But as a parent, just because they stumble, doesn’t mean you stop loving them.
Sometimes, your kids will mess up so bad that you get really angry at them. As a good parent, you’re forced to discipline them in order to correct their behavior. You want what’s best for them, so you want to get them back on track, back on the right path, so they don’t ruin their lives.
But sometimes, the only way to get their attention is to shake them up a little bit by punishing them. With little ones, you may put them on a time out chair for a few minutes. With teens, you may take away their phone to make them stop and think. You want them to pause and reflect on their behavior and what they could be doing better.
It’s the same with your Heavenly Father. Just because He course-corrects you, doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you. In fact, He loves you enough to discipline you and lead you back to Him. He’ll only let you stray so far before He starts making you uncomfortable enough to pause and think about the direction you’re taking in life. It may start with something like a flat tire or appliances breaking around the house. But if you don’t stop and pay attention, His actions will continue to get bigger until you notice. The more things that are going wrong in your life is your signal to stop and think about how far you’re getting away from God and what He wants for your life.
Think about it this way – when kids get themselves in a heap of trouble that they can’t get out of, they come running to their parents to save them. Sometimes, when you ignore God, your parent and Creator, for long enough, by chasing after meaningless things like money, careers, women, drugs, or whatever the case may be – if you’re getting farther and farther away from Him, He may allow sickness, financial hardship, and the like, in order to get you to stop what you’re doing and pay attention. When it gets bad enough, you’ll have no choice but to come running back to Him for help.
So if nothing in your life is going right, rather than cursing God for your hardship, recognize that He may be disciplining you like a loving parent. Stop, think and pray about it. Ask God what you may be doing wrong and ask Him for help.
No matter how bad your life is, if you come to Him humbly and apologetically, He’ll always welcome you back with open arms and love. Wouldn’t you do the same for your child?
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