It Was Not a Wasted Day

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 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 our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, 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 12:7-11


We are leaving for a long-anticipated road trip on Thursday morning. That means there is much to do this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Monday dawned, and I wrote a loose list of things that needed accomplishing in preparation for departure. At the end of Monday, nothing on my list was finished. Well, maybe something was, but I never actually looked at the list all day to see.

God had different plans for the day. Monday was to be a day for character training and discipline at our house. It doesn't happen like this terribly often, where all of the girls need serious attention for wrong attitudes and actions. But, it happened yesterday.

As the hours passed, I spent large chunks of time with this daughter, then that daughter, then two together (when an argument needed addressing).

I made lunch for the big three girls and put it on the table. One at a time, they wandered downstairs to eat. One by one they each immediately complained about what I prepared. Therefore, one girl at a time, I dealt with the spirit of ungratefulness in them. We talked about the Israelites in the wilderness - how they were there as punishment for their lack of faith (too scared to enter the Promised Land), and yet their loving Father provided their needs: food, water, meat, and so much more. I guess what I wanted them to see is that as sinful humans we don't deserve anything more than death, so to complain over His provisions is to say, in effect, "This isn't good enough for me, Lord! I deserve better!" And this just isn't true.

The girls took the reminder quite well, thankfully. And don't I constantly need the same one? Everything is a mercy. God made a way for me to be reconciled to Himself through Jesus' death and resurrection. May I live my life in light of this Grand Mercy, and always be thankful for the infinite other mercies He sends!

So, it was a long, exhausting day in the end, but not a wasted one. I take so much encouragement from that promise, that [discipline] produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. I tell the girls that the operative phrase here is "trained by it." In other words, willingly receiving deserved correction or sanctifying trials. And I must preach these truths back to myself, and also be glad at the promise of that harvest of righteousness in me as God works in my heart.

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Photos - God sent the most delightful surprise to me the other day. As I was washing a four-pound (yes, we bulk shop these days!) container of strawberries, I found this blossom. I've never had that happen before, and it made me so happy. Yep, I took the whole colander-full outside in the sun and snapped about a dozen photos of that pretty little flower. Thank You, God for big and small mercies, for they are all blessings from Your hand.