The Harvest

I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have banished you, but I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you with justice, but I will be no means leave you unpunished.  Jeremiah 46:28

I have noticed in many Christian circles, Satan gets the blame for all the suffering. But that isn't scriptural. Okay, maybe it was taken from a scripture or two, but it doesn't match up with the context of the Bible. Just because we don't want to make God out to be a meanie doesn't mean we have to go to the opposite extreme and make Him out to be a pushover. God does bring discipline as well as punishment because, as much as He loves us He isn't a codependent weakling who surrenders His throne. 

I want to preface this by saying that I struggled with this message because I don't want to be one of those hell, fire and damnation people who judge others and manipulate people into coming to Jesus with fear. But I feel God wants me to speak what He has put on my heart about this topic and I pray it is received as graciously as it is meant. I know God to be patient, kind, gentle and gracious. But I also know Him to be firm. He has such fierce love that we cannot grasp it. He is merciful with each day to hold the gates of heaven open so that we may make it. 

There is a difference between discipline and punishment. Discipline is the process of teaching and instructing; it is a training that corrects and perfects. Discipline usually bears the fruit of self control. Punishment is retribution, a penalty that is on a more severe level. God won't force us to learn, but I do believe He instructs and disciplines us more than we realize. And we have a choice in each instance - to obey or rebel.   

God disciplines us for the same reasons we discipline our kids- to grow us up by preparing us for the future. He isn't mean and unreasonable. Those boundaries are in our best interest. And He loves us way too much to stand idly by as we trade in our calling as warriors for a spoiled brat, comfortable and superficial religion.  He loves us way to much to watch His warriors become lazy sloths and their hearts become as hard as rock. Discipline makes us stronger warriors with a higher level of self control and a more tender and courageous heart. 

Discipline is a hard place to be for the flesh. But we can find comfort in knowing that He does it because He loves us and that He is making beauty from ashes. It is a reminder that He hasn't given up on us and He is calling out what He made us for. He disciplines those who follow Him with a thick mercy. We are safe with Him even in this state. 

Notice that He doesn't handle those who do not love and follow Him with the same "white glove" discipline. He promises punishment instead. He loves them the same but, remember that He isn't codependent. He allows us to make our own choices but He warns us that those choices have consequences. 

The God Almighty deeply cares for all of us. He also is a secure God who has perfect boundaries. I can't imagine a god who would stand back and allow everything to happen without consequences. For without discipline and punishment, this world would be even worse than it is. No one takes seriously a leader who doesn't take a firm stance. Our God is respectable and He makes that clear all throughout scripture.