All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
—Hebrews 12:11, NASB

Reflection:
The writer of Hebrews exhorts us not to regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when we are reproved by Him. Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that we endure. God deals with us as with sons.

This is not rejection. This is sonship. What son is there whom his father does not discipline? If we are without discipline, then we are illegitimate children and not sons. Father God disciplines us because He loves us, because He receives us, because He delights in us, and because He is forming something holy within us.

Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? Earthly fathers disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

If you are going through a season where you do not seem to feel the presence of God, be assured that He is still with you. He has not left you. The reason He is not manifesting Himself to you in the same way He used to may be because He wants to train you to live by faith and not by feelings. He is prying you away from the old and calling you to something new.

It may require doing something more than seeking Him night after night. It will demand radical obedience, going with Him to the top of the mountain, accomplishing the new, great work of transformation He is working within you.

We should welcome the Lord’s discipline because it helps us choose to go to new places and do new things that we would not have chosen without His loving hand disciplining us. Jesus said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (Revelation 3:19). So we can even ask Father God for His discipline. We can thank Him for His discipline because we want to walk with Him in the high places of blessing.

We are counting on His discipline to shepherd us to the mountaintop. We do not want to get away with doing anything less than what He envisions for our lives. His Word says the end result of discipline is the peaceful fruit of righteousness, and we invite that process and that result into our lives.

For those in a season of Bether, separation, for those who cannot feel His presence because of disobedience, for those who know there are things He has put His finger on and yet have been unwilling to repent, Father is not finished. Thank Him that He is not finished with any of us yet. We ask Him to touch us and give us the abundant grace needed to move on.

Thank You, Yeshua, that You put us in the cleft of the rock, the place where You tenderly nurture us. Thank You for ascending to heaven so we could enter into the steep pathway and the secret place as partakers of Your resurrection power. Now strengthen us in our weakness and cause us to become more than conquerors through You. Catch all the little foxes in our lives that impair the blossoming of Your love and purpose in us.

Application:

• Welcome the Lord’s discipline as His loving work to train you, mature you, and produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
• Ask Father to expose and remove the little insecurities, fears, selfishness, vain ambitions, and areas of sin that hinder you from running with Him.

Prayer:
Father, thank You that You love me and call me Your child. I welcome Your discipline because I want to walk with You in the high places of blessing. Do not let me get away with anything less than what You envision for my life. Strengthen me in my weakness, and give me the abundant grace needed to move on in obedience. Catch every little fox that hinders Your love and purpose in me. Thank You that Your victory is secure and Your banner of unconquerable love is over me.