Being Trained

As a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. – Deuteronomy 8:5

Would you walk over to correct the child misbehaving in the cart next to yours in the grocery store? Highly unlikely, unless you were looking to anger the parents and meet the security guards! However, in a real sense, kind instruction from a caring person could be the key to a better future for both the parents and the child. The world regularly interprets discipline as punishment rather than considering the spiritual principle that correction is part of loving someone.

God’s guidance in your life is meant to move you into a closer relationship with Him, not to exact a price for misbehavior. Yet through the filter of modern culture, it may not FEEL like love when you come upon roadblocks and hear God say no. Like the child in the grocery cart, if you cannot receive and learn from the instruction being offered, you are likely to experience only the pain of the situation and miss the embedded blessings. Corrie ten Boom said, “It hurts when God has to PRY things out of your hand.” 

Today, examine your life to discover the areas where God is teaching you, then humbly release those and dedicate each to His authority. Remember His direction will establish you not destroy you. “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). Pray for public officials across America to join you in submitting their lives to God, recognizing their need for His training and making themselves willing to receive His guidance and grace.