How Good God Is

Today’s topic is . . . messing up.

Because we’ve all messed up a time or two or three hundred, haven’t we?

And messing up brings consequences. Shame. Humiliation. Physical, mental, or emotional fatigue. Sometimes even discipline.

All have messed up. All except for one . . . and He hung up on that cross anyway.

All those consequences of messing up we just listed . . . Jesus went through all of it. And He beat it. Not because He wanted to, but because He decided to . . . for us.

Gotta have a little rain to enjoy the sun. Feel a little chill to embrace the warmth. The bad days make you appreciate the good ones just a little bit more. The same is true of grace.

In fact, St. Rose of Lima is quoted as saying “Without the burden of afflictions, it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase.”

There’s a similar scripture in my Bible.

Romans 5:20 says “The law was brought in so that the trespass may increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

I wanna talk about that word for a minute. Grace.

Grace is getting that which we do not deserve, while mercy is not getting what we do deserve. The two go hand-in-hand.

Our God, who became Man and experienced the ultimate consequences of being such, is such a good God that He freely lavishes upon us grace and mercy and love. (1 John 3:1)

Love, so that we may be called His children, sons and daughters of the King. Of the Father. And one of the most loving things fathers do . . . is discipline their children.

Before we dive into that, I wanna discuss the difference between two more similar words that people tend to confuse.

Discipline is to improve or attempt to improve behavior, obedience, orderliness, etc of by training, conditions, or rules.

Conversely, punishment is defined as the infliction of a penalty, pain, loss, or hardship upon one in response to a crime, rule violation, or undesirable behavior.

While sometimes the two go hand-in-hand, they are not one in the same.

As someone who enjoys words and pays careful attention to them, these two I notice being incorrectly used interchangeably quite often.

Now that that’s outta the way, let’s dive into Scripture.

“Have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; 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. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good in order that we may share in His holiness. 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.” -Hebrews 12:4-11

We are God’s children, and He loves us—loves us enough to discipline us when we fall short, stumble, or stray so He can lead us back to Him, lavish us in His great love and grace.

The pain from the fall, from the correcting is only temporary, but the grace and the peace it yields is eternal.

I’ve shared before that some of my favorite Scriptures are where God talks about Himself, expresses His great power as Maker of all things. The reason for that is because that same God that commands the world and the weather looks on me and says “Daughter.” And He loves me. And he leads me, even if sometimes, the road He’d have me walk in paved in discipline and life lessons.

Psalm 119:105 says “Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.”

And it is. I’d rather walk the well-lit road of my Father’s discipline than a deceptively smooth path blanketed in darkness any time.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” -Matthew 7:13-14

Be it small, it is well-lit. Choose the narrow gate, friends. Walk in the light of the Lord, brothers and sisters. Pray for God’s wisdom, and walk in His discipline so that He may shape you, grow you, and refine you into the son or daughter He has predestined you to be in His holy kingdom.

I’m going to close with a few lyrics of inspiration from one of Brandon Lake’s new singles, “How Good God Is.”

“Thank God for the anger that forced me to pray.

Thank God for the silence that taught me to wait.

If He spared me from breaking, and God knows I did,

Then I never would have ever known how good God is.”

. . . Not even Jesus was spared from breaking. He broke entirely . . . for us.

So my encouragement to you is this: When you find yourself “going through it,” stop and ask yourself, “What is God trying to teach me here?” Then apply yourself to it 100%!

The discipline may feel bad at the time, but the grace is going to be that much sweeter at the end.