Women’s Connect Devotion – May
Take a few moments to spend time with Jesus and receive this encouraging truth so beautifully shared by Kerrie Rosheim. We are so dearly loved by Jesus, sisters! May we be filled with His love more and more.
Blessings,
Rachel Greene
Love, Goodness, and Discipline??
You’re a good, good Father
It’s who You are, it’s who You are, it’s who You are
And I’m loved by You
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
I’m alone in the darkened church auditorium, clutching my chunky baby for all he’s worth as we sing through this chorus. I can’t open my mouth and sing. Tears well up in my eyes, but they’re tears of bitterness.
Have any of you ever had a hard time singing these words? Have you struggled to praise the goodness of our heavenly Father from the midst of circumstances that feel anything but good (to say it kindly)? The doubts shout even louder, “If this is what it means to be loved by God, then who would really want this??”
It’s a painful place to be… but it’s a real place to be. I’ve been there.
God’s love… I think I understand God’s love because I understand my idea of love. But is it possible that I’m selling God short? Am I willing to leave room in my definition of God’s love for what I don’t understand and can’t see?
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
God’s love is faithfully dedicated to holiness… to discipline.
“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” Hebrews 12:5-6 (ESV)
Wait a second- I don’t like that! I don’t like thinking about God disciplining me. Discipline equals shame in my book, not love. My pride screams, “I don’t need discipline! Haven’t I already learned everything that I can possibly learn from this experience?? (Don’t I understand your ways better than you, God?)”
But what if I also don’t understand God’s discipline? He is not a spiteful coach who takes delight in watching his players suffer. He is not a parent who relishes the chance to punish his child and take away his or her delight. He is faithfully dedicated to my holiness- to me being set apart for Him, graciously bearing His glory.
“…he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.” Hebrews 12:10b (ESV)
Thank you, God, for being far more passionate about my holiness than I ever am! Thank you for your persistent, relentless pursuit of helping me become more like Jesus, the lifelong process of sanctification. Thank you for being willing, when I am not, to sacrifice some short-term pain for long term holiness, just like you did on the cross for me. Thank you that you love me too much to leave me
in my pride and self-righteousness, that you will persevere with me in discipline long after I am ready to give up.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)
Nothing within me enjoyed the painful discipline I was experiencing at the time I struggled to sing about God’s goodness. And, honestly, I would drop back into heartbreaking despair if I was confronted with the same or similar circumstance today. But, I am beginning to see glimpses of this promised peaceful fruit of righteousness He is growing in me as I reflect and hear from Him.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)
Forgive me, Lord God, for exalting myself and my understanding of you far above who you truly are. Help me leave room in my understanding of your love for your discipline.
As you call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
As You call me deeper still
Into love, love, love
Now when I sing the words to this song, it becomes a ballad of praise to my loving God’s discipline. It is all about His encouragement in Hebrews 12. I thank Him for His goodness that lifts my eyes to Christ, the example of faithful endurance, who lovingly goes with me and holds my hand, no matter what I am experiencing. I am not alone; I am held in His love.
You’re a good, good Father
It’s who You are, it’s who You are, it’s who You are
And I’m loved by You
It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am
How might God be calling you to think about His love in a deeper way? How might there be room in the pain that you are feeling for God’s love to enter in? Might the difficult circumstances you are experiencing somehow also usher you into a new understanding of how much God loves you?
Sometimes, we can’t pour out the words from our hearts about God’s goodness. That’s okay… sometimes the words are for us, to be poured into our hearts and minds, reminders of the unchanging truth of His unchanging love. The next time we hear these words, may we be awed by the depths and wonders of God’s love, discipline, and goodness that we cannot fathom, and may we receive and soak in these truths about God deep into our hearts, whether we can say the words or not.
May He strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith- that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (adapted from Ephesians 3:16-19)
(Song lyrics from “Good Good Father,” written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown)