Hebrews 12:5-6 
And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you
Have you ever been rebuked? Told that your behavior is unacceptable? This will probably not come as a surprise, but I have. When I was growing up, I think rebuking was my parents favorite form of punishment. My best friend growing up used to get in trouble all the time. She didn’t have to do much wrong to get grounded. I would do the same or worse and only get a talking to. She asked me one time, “Why don’t you do more wrong? All your parents do is talk to you as punishment.” I explained to her that I didn’t want to have to find out what was after the talking to. I listened to my parents, because I guess I knew they could have done much worse than talking to me, and I think the thing that was most difficult for me with the “talking to” I received is that my parents showed their disappointment in my behavior. I loved my parents and wanted to please them, so a talking to was all it took, I guess. Also my mom didn’t like to ground us, because that meant she would have to ruin her life staying home to make sure we obeyed the grounding. She didn’t want to be grounded because we did something wrong.
Why do parents discipline their children?
I’m sure we’ve all seen the kids who have been raised with no discipline. I guess not all parents discipline well, but most parents have certain things that do matter to them, and if their responsible at all they make an effort to properly discipline their children. Do they do it so other people will think they’re good parents? Maybe, but I think the real motivation is love. They love their children and want to help their children grow up and be able to live fulfilling lives without getting in a lot of trouble they can’t get out of on their own.
God disciplines us.
In the same way that loving parents discipline us, the Lord disciplines us, and the verse above tells us how we should respond to that disciplining. ” do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son” So if you’re going through something right now, and you feel like the Lord is neglecting you, punishing you or abandoning you, know that He still loves you. He hasn’t changed. He is consistent. His love for you does mean that sometimes we have to face the consequences of our sins. Sometimes we have to face things that don’t seem fair. But God does not abandon us, but loves us like His children. Sometimes letting us learn small lessons so we don’t have to face the bigger ones, and sometimes facing the bigger ones because the smaller ones haven’t gotten through to us. He takes no pleasure in our pain, but does know what is necessary for our growth in our faith in Him.
He loves us.
No matter what is going on in your life, you can cling to the fatherly love of your Lord. He cares about you more than you care about yourself. Turn to Him for your refuge, strength and fair discipline.
Have you been rebuked?
God is... 