The Blessing of the Father's Training

This summer my challenge to you has been to think about how you see God. How you see God will determine the focus of your faith, the way you relate personally to God. It will set the course of your life, defining your personal sense of purpose and mission. The motivation to grow and the pattern of your growth will be formed by how you see God and your relationship with God.

Our problem is that we have so many unhelpful (if not false) images in our minds and culture. Some see the “God of the Philosophers” or the “God of Science,” a vision that sees God as a very distant, all-powerful being who got everything going but prefers to not get involved in our mess, and certainly is not relatable in any personal way. Others see God as a benevolent, sentimental “Santa Claus” or “Fairy Godmother” figure who looks out for us, gives us good things, and keeps bad things from happening. For many God is a “Righteous Judge” who holds the moral balance in his hands, looking to weigh you and all your deeds and declare you to be “found wanting.”

The most common description of God in Scripture is that of “Father” (or “Parent”).  The problem with that idea is the sad fact that so many of us have had not just imperfect but seriously defective fathers. (I’ve been blessed with an excellent, godly father.) It’s hard for us to even use the word “Father” without having a spasm. On the other hand, the Bible not only refers to God as our Father, but as our Abba (Daddy) Father – our Father in the best, most personal, most ideal sense (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6). Somehow we need grace and help to see the Fatherhood of God in the beautiful, perfect way that image paints for us in God’s Word.

I remember a beautiful move of the Spirit of God upon the college campus where I was serving in 1995. It just so happened that almost every member of the freshman class that year had grown up without a present father. I witnessed the many times that God revealed himself to these precious young people as their Father in the sweetest, most intimate way, and how healing and empowering that experience was for them. There are still many among us who could benefit from that kind of experience today.

The thing about a true Father is that he does not just love and support and protect. A true Father trains and disciplines his children. Our ability to reflect on that important truth immediately runs into other obstacles. One is the fact that not every child growing up in our culture experiences positive, consistent, loving discipline, and so has no way to picture the discipline of the Lord. Another problem is our confusion of discipline with punishment. “Discipline” simply means “training” and refers to the positive, consistent, effective forming of character leading to maturity. “Punishment” is about exacting revenge and protecting ourselves from the possible misdeeds of others. God does not punish his children, but God does faithfully discipline them.

The best way to understand the Father’s training is to examine how the Bible describes it. When describing the experience of the Israelites in the wilderness Moses summarized God’s plan as “discipline”: “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you” (Deuteronomy 8:5). The Bible is clear that being disciplined by the Lord is a blessing. “Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty” (Job 5:17; Psalm 94:12). The Lord does not discipline anyone who is not a son or daughter; the Father’s training is a sure sign that we are his children. “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:11-12). In fact, the lack of discipline is a curse. “For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly” (Proverbs 5:23).

There are rich benefits available when we experience the Lord’s training. However, those benefits can only be experienced to the extent that we embrace and submit to the Lord’s discipline. We can stubbornly resist God’s discipline and find ourselves wandering in a wilderness of our own making with the danger of dying in the wilderness. “How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or turn my ear to my instructors. And I was soon in serious trouble” (Proverbs 5:12-14). In fact, at some point it is possible for God’s discipline to come to an end as God simply gives us over to the consequences of our moral choices (referred to as “judgment” in Scripture). The nation of Israel ultimately came into judgment because of their refusal to embrace the Father’s discipline. “Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline” (Jeremiah 17:23; see also Psalm 6:1; 38:1.) On the other hand, we can intentionally cooperate with the Father’s training. “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life” (Proverbs 10:17), and “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge” (Proverbs 12:1). The prophet Jeremiah’s prayer was, “Discipline me, Lord” (10:24). The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes the truth that true sons and daughters experience the blessing of the Father’s training. “God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all” (Hebrews 12:7-8). Embracing the blessing of discipline requires honesty and humility with no attempt made to cover up or sugar coat the need for discipline (see Psalm 51). Only then will we grow into the mature sons and daughters God has designed us to be.