God disciplines us when we need it
"God disciplines those he loves."
- Proverbs 3:12 (NIV)
"I'm not tired." Those were the words often expressed by each of my sons when they were young and I enforced bedtime on a school night.
"You guys have school tomorrow and need your sleep," I explained as any loving mother would.
Although they didn't agree with my demands, I knew if I allowed my boys to stay up as long as they desired, they would be tired in school the next day and their performance would suffer.
With reluctant groans of disapproval, they surrendered to my wishes. However, once everyone was nestled comfortably under the covers, it wasn't long before eyelids were tightly closed and they were sound asleep.
The next morning, when the alarm clock signaled it was time to rise, I went to the bedrooms to awaken each of my sons. It warmed my heart as I watched each one of my boys stretch and yawn while rubbing the sleep from their eyes. They were ready to face the day, refreshed from a good night's sleep.
Like my grumbling young children, oftentimes, when we feel God isn't giving us our own way we respond like a groaning child. We feel like we're being punished or treated unfairly because we lack the understanding or foresight to see what God is withholding from us is for our own good.
Reflection at a later time may reveal a glimpse of what disaster God's love and mercy protected us from.
Many times, God is trying to grow and mature us to help us reach our full potential, which can only be accomplished through discipline. Disciplining our tongues in each conversation improves our relationships, while watching our financial spending can help money matters.
Many people misuse the word discipline and think it means to punish. But Webster's calls discipline: "Training that corrects, molds, or perfects …" Like when Jesus trained the disciples.
Discipline is meant to bring correction and improve us. When we diet, we discipline or control our eating habits. When we exercise, we discipline ourselves to stay faithful and stick with our workout routine. We discipline ourselves to go to work, clean our houses, shop, etc.
As parents, we even have to discipline ourselves to teach our children how to have some discipline over themselves by not spending too much time on any one activity.
God is love. And his design for discipline is to provide correction that helps us improve our lives. The Bible proverb goes on to explain that God disciplines us as a good parent disciplines their child.
When we don't see the answers we are looking for, we might try reflecting on where we lack some discipline and trust that, like a good parent, God is leading us to be more disciplined.
• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author, speaker, life coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com or (847) 543-8413. Invite her to speak to your church group, business or organization.