Disciplined

"Be careful to obey all the commands I am giving you today. Then you will live and multiply, and you will enter and occupy the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors. Remember how the LORD your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey His commands. Yes, He humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. For all these forty years your clothes didn't wear out, and your feet didn't blister or swell. Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the LORD your God disciplines you for your own good.(Deuteronomy 8:1-5 NLT)

I remember having a conversation with some friends of ours.  Our children were very young and our discussion was over whether or not we believed spanking was an appropriate method of discipline.  I don't remember what, if any, conclusion we came to that day.  I do remember thinking about that conversation over and over again through the years.

I guess the bigger question that comes to my mind is this:  What are you disciplining them about?  In other words, are they getting their spanking or other retribution over dirty hands, spilling something on your clean carpet, or, worse yet, something over which your child had no control at all?  What is the purpose of your discipline?

When God disciplines us, He removes things from us that draw us away from Him.  Sometimes he "smacks our hands" for grabbing on to things He already told us would be hurtful if we touch them.  He's disciplining us to trust Him in all circumstances.  Depending on our level of stubbornness, this can be quite a difficult process to go through.  I thank God, though, for disciplining me.  While it was painful to go through some of those times in life, the alternative would have been much worse.  Trust Him.  It's where He want's you to go.