God is ‘Our Father in Heaven’. As our Father, he invests his time and effort into our circumstances to develop us as His children.
Hebrews 12 is a great passage that gives us insights into God’s agenda. Let me share two insights.
God disciplines us because he loves us.
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s training, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
As you can see, the Lord both trains us and rebukes us. Sometimes God gives us circumstances that trains our character – stretching us in new directions so we grow and become a different person. At other times he gives us circumstances to rebuke us – correcting us when we are heading in the wrong direction. He does these things because he loves us.
Mums and dads, love your children. Tell them you love them. Also love your children by correcting them when you see their behaviour heads the wrong way. Love your children by training them, giving them challenges that stretch their character. Walk with them as they face challenges; don’t do the challenges for them, but rather coach them as God stretches them – share your mistakes. Remember, our job as parents is not to make our children happy, but to partner with God in the making of a human being.
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Finally, parenting is hard, hard day in and day out, dealing with the same issues. But remember that you are not doing it alone. We at Thomas Hassall are partnering with you in making a human being. Also, God is there too and understands - he has been working on you for decades!
Let us show our children there is a more excellent way!