Deuteronomy 8:5
“Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.”
Parents discipline their children. I’m not talking about the overbearing type that care more about making a champion. Nor is this the cruel parent who do it out of anger.
One reason for discipline is to keep the child away from danger. There will be a strong response if the child is heading towards traffic. An impression needs to be made about the danger. While the child won’t understand the gravity of the danger until older, there will be a sense of displeasure from the parent. The child won’t want to experience that again.
God will attempt to keep us from danger. He can put a strong response in us. It could be guilt, fear, dread, etcetera. We might not understand why, but we’ve got a sense not to proceed. He can also block our circumstances. We might misplace something or get caught in traffic. We should process this “should I be doing this?” He can intervene multiple times.
We can resist all of this and still proceed. He gives us free will. Just as parents allow their kids to live through the consequences of actions, so does God. He’s still with us. We’ve got to work through the difficult the difficulties.
Another way God disciplines us is unique to our personality. A good parent understands the child and disciplines accordingly. Some kids are tough and need stronger signals. Others are sensitive and need to be approached more carefully. It’s an art. It certainly isn’t “one size fits all”. We have to be students of our children. We may act one way. Then we look back and adjust accordingly.
This is how God is with us. Psalm 139:2 says that He knows when we sit or stand. He knows our thoughts from far off. He knows all our ways. He gets us. We have a yearning to be heard and understood. He is one that does. Just as a child won’t understand a parent’s love until older, so we need to grow in our understanding of His love for us. We can feel it. He will developmentally make sure we have enough. Yet, the longer we walk with Him the more we understand Him.
Lord, thank You that You love us and discipline us as children.