“Joyful are those you discipline, Lord, those you teach with your instructions. You give them relief from troubled times until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.” (Psalm 94.12-13)
Let’s face it, no one likes discipline. Even the people who tell you, “No pain, no gain,” I question. Maybe they’ve learned that if they are going to have satisfactory results they will have to suffer, but I seriously question that they like the pain. That’s just plain weird.
It is true, however, that joy comes with discipline. How wonderful it is when someone notices that you’ve lost weight! Making right choices results in joy…maybe not at the time, but in the long run.
Sometimes the Lord brings discipline into our lives. It shows that He is our Father, for every good father disciplines the children he loves. We all have a sin nature; left to ourselves it would overgrow like the juniper bushes in the front yard of my old house. (Somehow they always became a nest for spiders…but that’s another story.) God allows trouble in our lives to prune away the wild branches.
Thankfully, the Lord doesn’t leave us there. Just when we think we can take no more He sends relief—the check comes in, a person gives us an encouraging word, or that irritating person gets transferred to another department.
We must remember that if the Lord disciplines His kids, then what will happen to the ungodly? He chastens us now so that we won’t face judgment later, but will rather enjoy the fruits of righteousness. For that we can be very thankful…and joyful!
Simply the Bible Blog 
Leave a Reply