It Hurts, But It's For Your Own Good

The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death

Psalm 118:18

When I think back to my childhood, it is filled with many wonderful memories of just having fun. Lots of kids playing in the park across the road until the sun went down, and then playing spot light in the same park after dinner.

There's also lots of memories of being disciplined too. My mum was the disciplinarian in my house, and anyone with any sense would not dare to mess with her. Except us kids. Whenever it was too wet or too cold to play outside, we just transferred the same games indoors. Cricket, footy, didn't matter - until something smashed. I always knew my mum loved me, but when the wooden spoon came towards my backside, I was not as convinced.

Whether the methods my used were appropriate or not, her intention was always to raise all of her kids to be good citizens, and to be respectful of the millions of ornaments that she startegically laid around the house.

That is the same relationship that we have with God. He wants us to be good people. Respectful and filled with love for others. He also wants to be in relationship with us. A few verses before the one above, the Psalmist writes, "The Lord is with me, he is my helper..." (verse 7) 11 Verses later, and they are claiming that God is chastening them. I'm reminded of the words that some parents say when they are disciplining a child. "This is gonna hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you." (Haha, I doubt it?)

But God is faithful when he disciplines us. He chastens us with a fair hand. He points the things out to us that are leading us away from him. He's not doing it to be mean; if he wanted to be mean, he would leave us to our own devices.

God shows us what needs to change in our lives. What are the things that he might be revealing to you to remove from your life so that you can grow closer to each other?

Prayer: Lord God, reveal to me the things in my life that need to be removed or improved. Use your loving discipline to guide me in your ways. Through this process Lord, may I grow closer to you. Amen