“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this”.
Ever heard those words? Ever said them? You go through a season of intense suffering and you assume that God must be disciplining you. You’ve really got no idea what He is punishing you for, but you know it must be something. As you search through your life and nothing comes to mind you start to get a bit angry with God for punishing you without reason.
Allow me to shift gears for a moment and talk about parenting.
What kind of parent would I be if I spanked my children (or disciplined in some other way) but they had no idea why they were being disciplined? Would you call that discipline or call that abuse?
I don’t discipline my children unless I know for sure that they understand why they are being disciplined. Good parenting demands that. The goal of discipline is to bring about a change of the heart. It is a way of pointing out an unacceptable behavior or heart issue and linking it to a consequence. You discipline your children because you love them.
But if you discipline your children and they have no idea why they are being disciplined then you have to consider your goal? Likely, you are disciplining your children because you want to feel better. You want justice to be served. In this moments you are less concerned about your children growing and learning and more concerned that they pay for their crime.
Good parenting demands that when we discipline our children they understand why they are being disciplined.
Now let me ask, why do we think God is a bad parent?
God does discipline. And sometimes we do go through intense suffering because God is getting our attention. And there are even times when we stubbornly close our ears and refuse to listen to His discipline. In those times it might feel like God isn’t being fair and that he is disciplining us without cause. I’ve had times when I’ve clearly told my children why they are being disciplined. But in their rebellion they refuse to see what they should.
My point here is that God is a good parent. If you are going through a period of suffering and you are seeking the Lord and God hasn’t revealed to you a specific thing you are being disciplined for—then you probably shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that this is because of the Lord’s discipline. God doesn’t play hide and seek. He doesn’t dole out discipline and then hide and try to see if we can figure out why we are being chastened.
We sing, “He’s a good good Father”…this part of what that means.
