Chasing My Glory: The Lord’s Discipline
READY:
“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.”
Hebrews 12:5b-6, 11 NIV
“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.”
SET:
I thought I was doing it for the Lord!
I wanted to succeed at my career, because then, I thought, people would admire and respect me and then be drawn to Christianity.
As a CEO, I would be well-positioned to be invited to speak at various events, and I could share my faith, and people would listen.
Suddenly, the Lord allowed (or did He cause it?) my world to crumble.
The company went through a restructuring, so it took only just about a year for me to go from young rising star to unemployed.
Many years later, I praise God for thwarting my plans.
He showed me that I was climbing hard up a ladder that was on the wrong wall!
I thought I was doing it for His glory, but did my life actually look any different from every other hyper-ambitious professional pursuing their own glory?
He showed me that He cares so much more about what He wants to do IN me and WITH me, that about what I want to do FOR Him.
He challenged me to take on character goals (like gentleness, compassion, love and generosity) and not just career goals.
He asked me to trust Him and take the next steps of obedience rather than run after my own vision and strategies.
In my fitness journey these past 5 years, the Lord has also given many upsets.
A sprained ankle.
Right when I considered a powerlifting competition, a broken wrist at a church picnic.
A pregnancy and miscarriage.
Thank God, every time, He let me feel His closeness with me, so I could have peace.
The delays and setbacks gave me time and space to check if my priorities were rightly ordered, or if I was too obsessed with working out.
The times of not being able to train deepened my gratitude for His gift of exercise and fitness.
One day, I think I will praise the Lord more for His “thwarting” than for “blessing” my plans.
Hebrews says His discipline is His love.
He is the potter, we are the clay (c.f. Isaiah 64:8).
So, the Father gets the glory when He “messes” with us and makes us more like His beautiful Son Jesus as we submit to His hands.
GO:
Have you praised the Lord for His discipline, for thwarting your plans for your own glory?
How might the Father be shaping your character through delays and setbacks?
Pray for a “harvest of righteousness and peace” in your life.
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