JANUARY 2024 

GOD’S GOODNESS

When bad things or tragic things happen to us and we don’t know what to do, like a parent that a parent that uses negative consequences in discipling their son or daughter, they might think “If they really loved me, they wouldn’t take away my privileges or ground me.” The truth of the matter is, we often feel the same way when Adonai disciplines us. But like any loving parent, He, our Father, has a goal of helping us grow.

Hebrews 12:7-11 (TLV) “ ⁷It 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? ⁸If you are left without discipline, in which wll have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹Besides 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 live? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. ¹¹For 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.”

What the passage of Hebrews is telling us is that discipline doesn’t feel good; initially, it hurts. Yet, if we accept and learn from it and be trained by it, our lives will be transformed and bear fruit.

The unfortunate thing is we sometimes mistake the Almighty’s discipline for punishment, especially when we are distracted or consumed by busyness. It’s a lot easier to consider that discipline is a blessing if we were looking for a bigger picture of how our Father, the Almighty, is working in our lives. Instead, we tend to always complain, “If you were good to me and loved me You wouldn’t do this or that to me” and as a result, we completely miss out on what He is doing.

King David tells us in Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of Adonai forever.” He is really expressing that Adonai’s blessings are present with us every day we are alive. The Lord in His mercy and goodness upon us in our trails just as much as He does in our ease and comfort. Let us pray for our eyes to see those blessing and evidence of the Almighty’s good character and purposes.