When God Disciplines His Children

It was 8:00. The time of night when my patience usually is gone for the day. The time when all I want is to get the kids in bed, and do my own thing for a while before I go to bed. If any of my kids have extra needs after they are in bed (like a drink of water, a trip to the bathroom, or a bedtime snack....you know, the usual stall tactics), I'm not usually excited to oblige. This is MY time!

Then I heard it. A strange, soft sound coming from my son's room. Then louder cries. I hurried to his room, because he doesn't cry much at bedtime anymore. When I saw him, he was covered in puke. I stood there. Somewhat at a loss, not knowing what to do first. He was crying, and really just wanted me to pick him up, but I'll admit that I really didn't want to cuddle at the moment.

I finally got my bearings, enlisted help from daddy who got him bathed and snuggled while I changed his bedsheets.

Apparently in addition to honing my vomit-cleaning skills, God had a deeper lesson in this for me. The next morning, I opened up "New Morning Mercies," by Paul Tripp, and the main point for the day was this: "Christ's sacrifice satisfied the Father's anger so that, as his child, you will receive his discipline but need not fear his wrath." This particular day had two scripture passages to read.

The first was Hebrews 12:7-11:
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom    his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then    you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 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. 

Oddly, there is comfort in knowing that the discipline that I received from God is proof that I am his daughter. As I read through this passage and thought about the night before, I saw that God was truly teaching me something. It wasn't pleasant, but he used my sick son to discipline me, and it was for my own good. I could choose to view it as an annoyance, or I could choose to view it as a chance to grow in righteousness.

Job 5:17 & 18 was the next passage that I read.
 
Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; 
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.

The impatience that shows up promptly at 8:00 nearly every night is rooted in selfishness. It is about what I deserve, and I deserve a break! What I need to learn over, and over, and over again is that life is not about me. Life is about serving God through serving my children, my husband, and those around me. And what a better way to teach me to serve, than to use a puke-covered child and bed during MY time?

God disciplined me that night. Like the loving Father he is, He taught me that even though I think I have nothing left to give, He can work through me to show compassion to a sick child. That when I think my time belongs to me, it in fact belongs to Him. That my impatience is sin, and it needs to be replaced by kindness. That He loves me, and like I discipline my children because I love them, He disciplines me because of his love for me.