“And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm.” Deuteronomy 12:2 (ESV).
And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm,
God calls us to loving obedience through trusting He is good, his commands are good, and his ways are good. He calls us to trust him as Lord and not to take matters into our own hands, not to do things our way, or to try to be our own God.
He says consider today:
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The discipline of the Lord
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His greatness
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His mighty hand
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His outstretched arm
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His signs and deeds
To consider something, we must slow down, then yield, ponder, reflect, meditate, think, and choose. To consider the discipline of the Lord, we must not be opposed to it; we cannot fight it or push back on it or reject it; we must embrace it and receive it and trust that it’s a gift meant to protect us from our enemies.
The children of Israel, whom God called and delivered out of slavery, had a special relationship with God. It was tumultuous, yet again and again, they are urged to recount all the ways that God delivered them through His might and power and great love for them. Even though they were unfaithful and lost hope again and again, and God disciplined them for it, the discipline was out of his great love and was to prevent them from choosing death over life.
During their 40 years of wandering, they had children; their children saw the discipline of the Lord through their parents’ eyes but didn’t necessarily encounter it personally. They did experience God’s discipline, greatness, mighty hand, outstretched arm or signs and deeds for themselves and thus had a very different relationship with God. Yet, it’s the children who will experience the promised land, not the parents.
Is 40 years of wandering how long it takes for us to come to the other side of ourselves. Does it take 40 years of following Jesus to truly surrender? I am in my 40’s and have followed Jesus wholeheartedly for about 25 years. Do I have 15 more years of wandering? Of refining, discipline, wrestling and surrender? Jesus spent 30 years on His own, preparing Himself and His heart for three ears of ministry and discipleship. Maybe it’s not about the length of time at all.
I have kids who are entering adulthood. They have only known the faithfulness of God through us, and if I am really honest, we have not been that good at testifying to it. All of my internal wrestles are internal, God meets me, but no one knew I was struggling or needed a breakthrough in that area. I don’t talk about or share it, and I don’t know why. I don’t think it’s inherently wrong or bad to process internally but have I testified enough to what God has done and how he has been and continues to be so faithful. Lord, help me to be more intentional about testifying to your goodness.
How has God been faithful to you? Tell someone today!
