The fences of our past aren’t meant to keep us out. No, sometimes they are saying…fight to get in.
(Picture by Lisa R)

I have been in training in my new job for close to three months now. The training is pretty intense, but really fun at the same time. One of the many things that we get as a result of the training is constructive criticism. Our trainers will monitor us and tell us what we did good, but they will also tell us what we did that was NOT so good. I am not bad with criticism, but that does not stop that stinging feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you hear you didn’t do something as perfectly as you thought you did. I have been pondering the feedback lately, and I had this thought; as much as I may dislike it, as much as it may make me feel uncomfortable, in the end it really is for my benefit. Then I compared the discipline of my trainers to the discipline that God sometimes gives, and I realize if my sinful, very human trainers discipline and give feedback for my good, how much more does God. God who created me, and loves me so much that He sent His son to die. I realize that when the trial and hard times come it is a form of God drawing the line and teaching me to move in a different direction. Don’t despise the discipline of God. Because if our human parents and leaders do it for our good, then God does it for out GREATNESS.

“My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, for whom the LORD loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3″11-12).

So what am I thankful for today? A loving God who disciplines me for GREATNESS.