Friday, July 07, 2006
Discipline
I am a Christian. I may not behave like one all the time, but I do believe in God and I believe in Jesus.
The past couple of weeks I have been slowly going through Proverbs. I have a little book called "God is in the Small Stuff", by Bruce & Stan, that is full of all kinds of devotional hints and encouragements. One was to make a daily habit of reading the Proverbs chapter that corresponds to the current date. I needed a way to get started back into reading the Bible on a regular basis and this didn't sound too daunting, so I've been trying to do it. I don't get to it every day but it's something I look forward to. I'm a few days behind, because I'm still going through Proverbs 3.
This morning I came upon a great verse, Proverbs 3:11,12. Proverbs is such a great book because it is full of poetry and common sense. But this particular verse sent me thinking.
My son, do not despise the LORD'S discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
After making the appropriate substitutions in my head of daughter for son, I began to wonder how God disciplines me. In this context the word discipline is used as punishment or correction. I can think of a number of different ways it feels like I am disciplined, but these could also just be circumstantial. (The age-old rationalized vs. faith-based perspective debate.) But one area that really struck me was..... the waiting for our child.
How could this not be God's discipline? And discipline in more than the 'correction' sense, but also in the 'developing perseverance' sense as well. I am discouraged by how long it is going to take to receive a referral for us. (Now maybe another 6 months.) I am tempted to count how long I have desired this child and how long it has taken us to even get to this point. But then I would really be wallowing. Then it really hit home:
This wait could very easily be compared to God's testing the nation Israel in the desert for 40 years.
Now THAT was God's discipline! Thankfully I will not have to wait 40 years. But now I can look forward to what God is going to do my life during these next few months, if I let Him. Who will I become?
Most importantly though, is that this morning, God has told me that He loves me.
The past couple of weeks I have been slowly going through Proverbs. I have a little book called "God is in the Small Stuff", by Bruce & Stan, that is full of all kinds of devotional hints and encouragements. One was to make a daily habit of reading the Proverbs chapter that corresponds to the current date. I needed a way to get started back into reading the Bible on a regular basis and this didn't sound too daunting, so I've been trying to do it. I don't get to it every day but it's something I look forward to. I'm a few days behind, because I'm still going through Proverbs 3.
This morning I came upon a great verse, Proverbs 3:11,12. Proverbs is such a great book because it is full of poetry and common sense. But this particular verse sent me thinking.
My son, do not despise the LORD'S discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
After making the appropriate substitutions in my head of daughter for son, I began to wonder how God disciplines me. In this context the word discipline is used as punishment or correction. I can think of a number of different ways it feels like I am disciplined, but these could also just be circumstantial. (The age-old rationalized vs. faith-based perspective debate.) But one area that really struck me was..... the waiting for our child.
How could this not be God's discipline? And discipline in more than the 'correction' sense, but also in the 'developing perseverance' sense as well. I am discouraged by how long it is going to take to receive a referral for us. (Now maybe another 6 months.) I am tempted to count how long I have desired this child and how long it has taken us to even get to this point. But then I would really be wallowing. Then it really hit home:
This wait could very easily be compared to God's testing the nation Israel in the desert for 40 years.
Now THAT was God's discipline! Thankfully I will not have to wait 40 years. But now I can look forward to what God is going to do my life during these next few months, if I let Him. Who will I become?
Most importantly though, is that this morning, God has told me that He loves me.
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4 comments:
Beautiful post. The way I think of it is that this time will pass whether or not we are waiting, so we shouldn't put ourselves on hold- thinking life will begin when. We should just make the best out of life each day and eventually things will happen. The problem with me is the fear that it will never happen- That something will go wrong and Russia will shut down the adoption program before we get our daughter home. I try to put this out of my mind and remain optimistic. Sometimes I think God does give us this time to prepare mentally and physically. The sacrifices we make for our children will help us be better parents when they come.
Sorry so long! I didn't know I had that much to say.
Jennefer, I totally agree. I am so thankful that I have C and K with us, because otherwise the wait would be unbearable. And I will try to make the best of each day with them. I can't imagine Russia shutting down... I just don't believe that it will get much slower than it is right now. It has to get better.
really lovely. discipline is a multifaceted thing, as it is one of the ways God works in our lives, to bring about His will...
for me, patience is one of the most difficult lessons in life to learn... trust is too. but it is directly by waiting and trusting that we move and grow, and as we set boundaries for our own children, helping them to move in a positive, loving direction, we too find boundaries for ourselves... and how we deal with limits and parameters is discipline...
thinking of you all... :)))
and really quickly... as for the old pics, the scanner was one we picked up at the CSUC bookstore for about $50. seems to work fine! :)))
Aha! found you, Sandy! I've been trying to find many of my friends from high school of late---guess I'm getting nostalgic--gotta love the internet. When you get a chance please visit my site www.SlideAdams.com, and shoot me an email.
Very brief update that you won't find on the site. I'm a father of four. Three from my first marriage are a 14yo boy & 10yo twin girls, fraternal though. The one from my final marriage is 2 & a half. My folks have retired and are living now in Sun Lakes, Banning. Brother now owns the House of Portraits and is doing very well. In addition to being in the Army's top jazz band based in DC, Cheryl and I own the DJ division of a high-end entertainment agency, so rather than playing in average bands on the weekends I DJ events--a skill I picked up when I was working on cruise ships. www.Elan-DJ.com
Cheryl's site is www.foxyfashionista.com she does occassional jobs through it but more often than not she is DJing since it usually pays much better than promotional modeling.
I'd love to hear from you when you get a chance. Oh and tell your grandfather since I know he'll get a kick out of it; that I play short dixie package toward the end of every Army Jazz Ambassador concert--doing my best to live up to the Jack Teagarden legacy. If he'd like some CDs I'll be happy to oblige. I'll be in Idyllwild teaching at the jazz camp from the 16th to the 22nd this month and doing 3 concerts, one of which being the idyllwild concert series. Anyway, enough for now.
W/B soon,
Jeff
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