February 10
"Those who sat in darkness and in the
shadow of death,
bound in affliction and
irons
because they rebelled against
the words of God
and despised the
counsel of the Most High,
therefore
he brought down their heart with labor;
they
fell down, and there was none to help.
Then
they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and
he saved them out of their distresses;
He
brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and
broke their chains in pieces."
Psalm
107:10-14
There are two ways to respond to the
discipline of the Lord. Some rebel and go deeper into prideful
self-will. Others surrender, they come to repentance - and these are
they who will be brought out of darkness and distress. They will be
restored.
Just as a parent will tell the child not to touch
the hot stove, invariably the child will touch it anyway and that may
be the only way the child will learn not to touch the hot stove. It's
the same with all believers. We know what the Word says, but there
are things that only discipline can teach. Do not resist the
discipline. It's not forever, and it has a very real purpose. Give up
your pride and surrender to the Lord, and he will bring something
beautiful out of it.
"Now no chastening seems to be
joyful
for the present, but painful,
nevertheless,
afterward it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to
those who have been trained
by it.
Therefore strengthen the hands
which hang down,
and the feeble knees, and make straight paths
for
your feet, so that what is lame
may not be dislocated, BUT RATHER
BE HEALED."
Hebrews 12:11-13
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