
Hebrews 12:11-13:
“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.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
BarbTalk:
Discipline is one of those words that makes people cringe. “The Lord’s Discipline” always has been a strange term for me. I am still not exactly sure what it means. I think of a parent’s discipline, which usually looks like something is taken away, or there is somewhere you can’t go. It isn’t pleasant, it usually is painful in one way or another.
When we adopted one of our kitties, Walnut, it was obvious that she had been abused. She was deathly afraid of hands and feet, and, being a siamese, she had a big temper. She wanted to prove to our older cat, Jolie, who was boss and spent 6 months trying to beat her up any time she could or wanted to. No type of discipline worked. We could soak her with a water sprayer and she kept going. No amount of yelling worked. We did notice, even with all of her fear, that she had tremendous separation anxiety.
This is how it went: When she went on the attack, we would yell: Time Out!! Then put her in the bathroom with the door closed for about a minute. We figured if we waited a longer time, she would forget why she was in there and start playing with the toilet paper. After that long minute we would open the door, and out came a transformed kitty. Looking coy and sweet, as if to say, I’m such a nice kitty, she would rub against us and be all happy. It got so all we would have to do is yell time out! and she would take herself to the bathroom, and have a lovely reunion in a couple of minutes. One of the funniest times was when we had a Super Bowl Party at the house. Every time someone yelled, she would give herself a time out. I would find her, crouched behind the toilet, looking very contrite. She delighted at the all-better-reunion each time. I guess the only time she heard yelling she figured it was her fault.
When the older cat died, and we adopted Isis, the murderous rage flared again. We would yell Time Out! She would take herself to the bathroom and feel sorry. She kept this up for six months until her position was firmly established in Isis’ mind. We allowed the kitties to sleep with us at that time, and Isis was too fearful to enter the bedroom, so she would start an “in the kitchen pitiful whining session” every night at 2 a.m.. I would go lay on the kitchen floor with her for a while, letting her just be around me and feel safe. When the 6 months was up, Isis came into the bedroom and the kitties were happy, but not Al and I. Turns out Isis has those skinny, boney feet that feel like telephone poles bearing down on your body as she tried to get comfy. We then began the routine of microwaving buckwheat warmers, and putting them on the living room chairs, which they took to immediately. No complaining outside the bedroom door, they were busy being baked in buckwheat on the chairs.
All that to say the discipline was also painful for us. We did not want to separate Walnut or Isis from the family, but it was the only way to get them to understand their behavior was unacceptable.
I cannot begin to imagine how God feels when He sees my unacceptable behavior. My brain tells me He says: “Really? Really? You’re still doing THAT?” But what He is more likely to say is, “Oh, My precious daughter, let Me help you change that. I’m going to let you see how really ugly that is to Me, and then you will want to come to Me to help you cease and desist.”
Someone once told me, “our lives are like garbage cans, and if we don’t open them up for God to see inside and work with us on what’s inside, then He will allow someone to kick our can over in front of everyone so we will want to go to Him first.” Oh, my. We all have seen others’ garbage cans kicked over, and usually it is someone professing to be a great Christian who had been hiding some unacceptable behavior. So many organizations have been damaged by others trash being spread around for all to see.
Discipline in my life has always involved my health. I am not saying that my health difficulties are given to me as punishment. It’s not quite like that. It is more like I am removed from the situation. I am taken away for a time out. Rest, recovery, and for common sense to be brought into my mind again.
The year I became a Christ follower, I developed a terrible case of carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. I was wearing two braces and continued on as if nothing was wrong. One day when I was on my hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor, this thought went through my head: “If a doctor tells you to stop, you might stop, but when I tell you to stop, you ignore Me.” That certainly stopped me. I went for prayer, and in His grace, He healed my wrists miraculously the first time I went to church. I remember thinking, if I could only touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed. And I was. The redness and swelling were gone. It was a miracle.
God has healed me of so many things, including severe depression, but has not healed me of the M.S. One of my dear friends told me that she asked the Lord why I had not been healed of the Multiple Sclerosis. She truly believed He was saying “If I heal her, will she ever be able to say no?” I agree with her belief. I don’t stop until I am stopped. Well, I have been stopped a lot in these last 3 years. I hope I am getting it. I am better at saying I am not able to do this or that, or I have to cancel, or go lay down or whatever fits the situation. I am down to no more than 1 activity a day now, with a nap.
Some day I think I may wise up. Some day I may figure out how to take care of myself so I can care for others. Some day. Until then, I am learning through Discipline. When He says stop, I need to stop. When common sense says stop, I need to stop.
“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. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
“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.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”
BarbTalk:
Discipline is one of those words that makes people cringe. “The Lord’s Discipline” always has been a strange term for me. I am still not exactly sure what it means. I think of a parent’s discipline, which usually looks like something is taken away, or there is somewhere you can’t go. It isn’t pleasant, it usually is painful in one way or another.
When we adopted one of our kitties, Walnut, it was obvious that she had been abused. She was deathly afraid of hands and feet, and, being a siamese, she had a big temper. She wanted to prove to our older cat, Jolie, who was boss and spent 6 months trying to beat her up any time she could or wanted to. No type of discipline worked. We could soak her with a water sprayer and she kept going. No amount of yelling worked. We did notice, even with all of her fear, that she had tremendous separation anxiety.
This is how it went: When she went on the attack, we would yell: Time Out!! Then put her in the bathroom with the door closed for about a minute. We figured if we waited a longer time, she would forget why she was in there and start playing with the toilet paper. After that long minute we would open the door, and out came a transformed kitty. Looking coy and sweet, as if to say, I’m such a nice kitty, she would rub against us and be all happy. It got so all we would have to do is yell time out! and she would take herself to the bathroom, and have a lovely reunion in a couple of minutes. One of the funniest times was when we had a Super Bowl Party at the house. Every time someone yelled, she would give herself a time out. I would find her, crouched behind the toilet, looking very contrite. She delighted at the all-better-reunion each time. I guess the only time she heard yelling she figured it was her fault.
When the older cat died, and we adopted Isis, the murderous rage flared again. We would yell Time Out! She would take herself to the bathroom and feel sorry. She kept this up for six months until her position was firmly established in Isis’ mind. We allowed the kitties to sleep with us at that time, and Isis was too fearful to enter the bedroom, so she would start an “in the kitchen pitiful whining session” every night at 2 a.m.. I would go lay on the kitchen floor with her for a while, letting her just be around me and feel safe. When the 6 months was up, Isis came into the bedroom and the kitties were happy, but not Al and I. Turns out Isis has those skinny, boney feet that feel like telephone poles bearing down on your body as she tried to get comfy. We then began the routine of microwaving buckwheat warmers, and putting them on the living room chairs, which they took to immediately. No complaining outside the bedroom door, they were busy being baked in buckwheat on the chairs.
All that to say the discipline was also painful for us. We did not want to separate Walnut or Isis from the family, but it was the only way to get them to understand their behavior was unacceptable.
I cannot begin to imagine how God feels when He sees my unacceptable behavior. My brain tells me He says: “Really? Really? You’re still doing THAT?” But what He is more likely to say is, “Oh, My precious daughter, let Me help you change that. I’m going to let you see how really ugly that is to Me, and then you will want to come to Me to help you cease and desist.”
Someone once told me, “our lives are like garbage cans, and if we don’t open them up for God to see inside and work with us on what’s inside, then He will allow someone to kick our can over in front of everyone so we will want to go to Him first.” Oh, my. We all have seen others’ garbage cans kicked over, and usually it is someone professing to be a great Christian who had been hiding some unacceptable behavior. So many organizations have been damaged by others trash being spread around for all to see.
Discipline in my life has always involved my health. I am not saying that my health difficulties are given to me as punishment. It’s not quite like that. It is more like I am removed from the situation. I am taken away for a time out. Rest, recovery, and for common sense to be brought into my mind again.
The year I became a Christ follower, I developed a terrible case of carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. I was wearing two braces and continued on as if nothing was wrong. One day when I was on my hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor, this thought went through my head: “If a doctor tells you to stop, you might stop, but when I tell you to stop, you ignore Me.” That certainly stopped me. I went for prayer, and in His grace, He healed my wrists miraculously the first time I went to church. I remember thinking, if I could only touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed. And I was. The redness and swelling were gone. It was a miracle.
God has healed me of so many things, including severe depression, but has not healed me of the M.S. One of my dear friends told me that she asked the Lord why I had not been healed of the Multiple Sclerosis. She truly believed He was saying “If I heal her, will she ever be able to say no?” I agree with her belief. I don’t stop until I am stopped. Well, I have been stopped a lot in these last 3 years. I hope I am getting it. I am better at saying I am not able to do this or that, or I have to cancel, or go lay down or whatever fits the situation. I am down to no more than 1 activity a day now, with a nap.
Some day I think I may wise up. Some day I may figure out how to take care of myself so I can care for others. Some day. Until then, I am learning through Discipline. When He says stop, I need to stop. When common sense says stop, I need to stop.
“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. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ‘Make level paths for your feet,’ so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”