Proverbs 13

OK so here is how it went down. Last night our youngest daughter did something she had been told not to do-- play with medicine. She decided to give a toy alligator a bath with soap and liquid Benadryl. The soap got into the brand new bottle of Benadryl which prompted her to tell us of her mistake. For whatever reason she likes to take stuff in the bathrooms cabinets and mix them together. A couple weeks ago it was Vick's vapor rub and some rosemary essential oil stuff. As a result of her decision to mix things together in the bathroom she received three spankings. You would have thought I was ripping her toe-nails out one by one. I'm sure the neighbors wondered if they should call Child Protective Services or not. Yep we spank our kids sometimes. 

I put her to bed early and went up to lay down by her and remind her that I loved her. After I told her I loved her she looked at me with all seriousness and said, are you ready for this...."how can that be, after you spank me harder than any child has ever been spanked? How can that be?" 

She was convinced no one in the history of earth had received what she just received. I actually had to hold her up to a mirror and prove that her butt was not bleeding (she was convinced it was). She sat up for drink of water in bed and said the pain was too much to sit up....I do hope she realizes that she can't keep playing with things that may cause her harm. The entire point of the discipline and ensuring drama was to make sure she never plays with medicine again. I can't take a chance that she'll drink a bottle out of the cabinet, or mix cleaning products. I love her too much to take that chance. 

Then this morning I woke up and read this: "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." Now I know that many people have and will use this verse to justify actions that are extreme and abusive. Please look past their mistakes to understand the principle intended. Our children need discipline. Positive discipline in the form of rules, boundaries, and safety nets. But they also need negative discipline like time-out, loss of privileges and sometimes spankings. 

You and I need the same thing. God loves us too much to allow us to keep doing something that will lead to our own destruction. He disciplines us as a loving father who knows what we do not know. He knows the things we are mixing together may prove fatal one day. He disciplines us and we say, "How can you call yourself loving?" I often look at God's discipline as a 6 year old looks at spanking. I will never expect her to thank me for a spanking, but I hope she looks back at her childhood and sees a father who loved her and guided her toward a life with discipline that allowed her to become all that God has created her to become. I know when I look at my heavenly Father that's what I see and if she sees a little bit of Him in me then I've succeeded. 

How does your discipline portray God to your children? 

What would you think of God if he disciplined you like you discipline? 

Has God's discipline kept you from disaster?