By Larry W. King
Volume II, Number XXIII
September 8, 2009
Purpose In Your Pain!
“… ‘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’. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 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 12:5b-7, 11 (NIV)
When it comes to discipline or punishment, most of us have heard the old adage, “son (or daughter), this is gonna hurt me more than it does you”, haven’t we? I have to admit, I’d always felt that was pure drivel - until I becamea father!
My 19-year-old son, Myles (named after Miles Davis, one of my musical heroes), is very much like his old man – in looks, in demeanor, in love of music and drama, etc. He’s a terrific teen and has often made me a VERY proud Papa – especially with his piano and his dedicated service on the altar at church. However, like every child, on occasion he needed to be disciplined or punished. It was during those times that I came to recognize the golden truth of the aforementioned saying, which I’d skeptically doubted – disciplining your child DOES hurt the parent. Why? Because – at least in my case – it felt like I was whipping myself!
My dear mother often said, “experience is a cruel but very effective teacher”, a quip I shall NEVER forget! Assuredly, in many cases, Myles had done the very same thing – or had the same experience - which got ME in trouble and punished by MY father as a youngster. Of course, the irony was not lost on yours truly. I realized that what Myles had done was nothing worse than the very sins I had committed at his age (or younger!). Nevertheless, while that was true, discipline or punishment was no less justified and necessary. As a loving parent, I was righteously compelled to firmly administer - to his backside - the consequences of bad behavior. Like father like son …
Solomon, in his unsurpassed wisdom, speaks volumes on the parental responsibility for discipline with a single sentence as he exhorts, “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” – Proverbs 22:6 (KJV). How much MORE true is this for our Heavenly Father? All humankind is His creation, and all believers are His cherished sons and daughters! Moreover, He LOVES us far beyond anything we can ask or even conceive. Yet, as the apostle Paul declares in our inspiring text, because He loves us He MUST discipline or punish us when we sin.
So, is there any question that God grieves over His children when we misbehave? Does He not shed paternal tears whenever His offspring mistreat, abuse or murder each other? Could we possibly doubt that it is His gracewhich grants us the free will to make the crazy bad choices we often do? Are we surprised by the frequently disastrous consequences of those choices? And is it not due to His endless, abundant mercy that (IF we allow Him) He uses those consequences to amend our ways and CHANGE our character?
Notwithstanding, discipline – which leads to behavior modification and builds integrity – NEVER feels good! It hurts. It’s painful. We scream. We cry bitter, salty tears. We RUN away. We yell at God, “why me, Lord, why ME?” in our agony. And we wonder if the pain will ever end.
But the best thing about our Father is He forever HEARS us. He hears every prayer. He knows what we’re going through. He cares, He listens, He acknowledges and He replies. If WE will just listen closely, we’ll hear His still, small voice whispering, “I know daughter. I KNOW, son. You messed up real bad. And I hate what you’re going through - but I still LOVE you and I ALWAYS will. You are my dear child, my creation and my beloved. You look just like your Daddy! I know it hurts terribly right now, but hang in there. I am with you. And my peace is yours for the asking. So ask, and take heart. Be strong, for there is surely MY … purpose in your pain!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment