9Furthermore,
we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect.
Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits
and live?
The context of this scripture is about the role of
God as the disciplinarian. When His children are not obedient He
disciplines as a way to show love. And so a trial of chastening comes as
a way to develop or bring that son or daughter to a place of
development and maturity. God our heavenly Father is compared to that of
earthly fathers.
On last Sunday, our assistant pastor facilitated a
discussion on the role of a nurturer and how God can be both mother and
father in His qualities. Even scripture references how we can lean on
Him when forsaken or there is an absence of human roles in Psalm 27:10.
And it was brought up that a nurturer doesn't always have to be a woman.
I was reading something else and God brought to my attention the role
of disciplinarian. In the days of old, earthly fathers played the role
of disciplinarian. The statement of, "wait til your father gets home,"
when a child was in trouble signifies this idea. However, God brought to
my attention those who had no father or the father figure present may
have lacked in the area of discipline.
Now I know for me, when my late dad came into the picture
I was very grateful and actually respected his authority. Looking back I
believe it was because he treated me as though I were his own and I was
in need of something I lacked. Within two years of him entering my
life, I had accepted Christ and I was learning obedience from a
different perspective. But what God showed me was that there are many
who reject His will and way because of the absence of a disciplinarian
in their life. They are not used to being corrected for the things done
in error. Therefore, being corrected or being obedient to anything other
than their own desires seems outrageous. Some people have gone so left
field in their actions in life because no one has corrected them or they
lacked in the area of correction for whatever reason. It then becomes
understandable how the resistance to God's discipline is even possible.
But God is always victorious in His ways.What God also reminded me was about how two of the apostles were in a situation where there was a conflict between what God commanded of them and what an earthly authority figure was demanding of them. And the response of the apostles was that they would stay obedient to God. The apostles were aware of the final authority in their lives and they stood by it.
Who has been the role of disciplinarian in your life? Who is the final authority in your life? Did you know that you may be in a trial now because what God wanted to display you did not respect so now you are learning the hard way? Did you know that it is only because He loves you that you are in it and it is meant for you to come out better than when you went in it?
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