“..When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord.” (~Isaiah 26:9-10/NIV)
Upon reading these verses, I felt a little sad. Sad, because I realize that even in my own life, there have been times when I received a measure of God’s uncomfortable discipline, rather than His pleasant grace. I understood the truth of the matter; that sometimes we as human beings can be stubborn, prideful, and self-absorbed, wanting our own way in all things. However, God always has a plan to lead us along the correct paths as we submit to His direction and discipline. His ways are always better than our own, and we simply don’t always live our lives honoring them.
Oxford defines discipline as “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience,” while it defines judgment as “a misfortune or calamity viewed as a divine punishment.”
For the believer, I equated this topic to the correction of a toddler or puppy. Sometimes, a favorite treat or toy won’t bring about the good behavior we want in a situation, though occasionally it may. Learning the right conduct often may require some measure of discipline instead. Of course, it doesn’t mean we don’t love our toddlers or puppies, but we want them to avoid trouble and have the best existence possible. So, we teach them with all the healthy and effective methods of wisdom, knowledge, and correction we can provide.
Hebrews 12:11 teaches us that “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.” Yet we can find comfort in the fact that “Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
For those who may not yet have accepted Christ, they lack the Holy Spirit’s power to be successful in living for the Lord as He wills. Thus, consistently being open to spiritual attacks on their lives and painful judgment. However, we who choose to believe can rest assured that when we sin, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9/NIV).
Ms. Rita's Minute 