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 12:11
My cats are on a diet. I
always thought cats nibbled throughout the day and I had to leave a bowl of
food out all the time. Well, it didn’t take long before one of my cats started
giving Garfield
a run for his money. What to do? Well, I’ve started putting the food out and
letting them eat for a few minutes, then picking it back up and leaving the
bowl empty for a couple hours. (Hoping I can eventually stretch that out to a
longer period of time at some point).
Well, they are on to my
scheme after only a day. Before it gets close to the two hour mark, they start sitting and staring at me. They stare at the empty bowl and
then me. They brush up against me and cry. Every time I get up, they
run to the bowl or to the cabinet where I keep the food stored. On one level,
it breaks my heart. I know they aren’t going hungry, but … their pitiful,
little faces … their pitiful, little cries. I need to be strong! Because it
is best for them. I need to help them be healthier. They need to learn some
self-control.
This morning I started
wondering if that is what God sometimes feels like. When He’s trying to help us
be better, healthier, with more self-control about something. He’s not going to
let us go without. But He sees our pitiful little faces … hears our cries …
does it break His heart? Despite our crying, He stands firm on what He knows is
best for us. He knows about timing and knows we have to learn to wait. Yes, God is good – all the time.
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