Marks of Faithfulness (3)

The book of Hebrews tells us (in chapter 12:1-11) that only illegitimate children are without discipline. This was an attitude in the first century: children born out of wedlock were neglected and not properly disciplined, but all children (even of pagans) if born in wedlock were given the grace of some kind of disciplinary instruction. Although that may not be true today (since the majority of children, legitimate or illegitimate, are rarely given any discipline whatsoever [which is another sign of the disintegration of modern society]), the point of the original passage in Hebrews is still true: God disciplines those whom He loves.

This means that a clear sign of living in faithfulness and being a "child of God" is that you are experiencing the discipline and instruction of God Almighty. Yes (as the passage in Hebrews points out), discipline is never an enjoyable thing, but we cannot take our cue from modern society (which largely has no idea what discipline actually is). We must recognize that God disciplines us because He loves us.

What does that discipline look like? Often it is merely the ordinary temporal consequences that come from bad behavior; but what makes it the clear discipline of God is that He enables us to recognize it as such. Those who cannot see the hand of God in their temporal consequences are without that grace and are blocking themselves from the love of God.

Yes, there are those whom God leaves to their own devices. They have rebelled against Him so much that He gives them what they are asking for: to be left alone. No, our Lord never abandons those who seek His mercy and grace and are willing to repent of their sins and submit to Him. Yet, those who truly turn away from Him are never forced to return; they are left, instead, without discipline. They keep making bad choices and experiencing all the consequences of those choices with little to no benefit. This is what it means to live in darkness.

Whenever you think that God is just "out to get you" it is probably because He is giving you a disciplinary procedure and you are missing the point of it. Look at what those challenges are. Sometimes the difficulties we experience are merely the sanctifying grace of salvific suffering; other times they are God's instructive discipline. Only the heart that is open to God and praying about those experiences will be able to tell the difference.

So do not resist the discipline of the Lord. Watch for it, and that in itself will help you to stand in His grace (and thus enable you to realize that you are being faithful to Him). As you do that you are both growing closer to God, and seeing what He is like. It is that very mixture of our daily lives that is a helpful gift of strength in our experience of discipline. As painful as it may be, accept it and be thankful for it. Remember, it is God saving your soul.