When things go wrong, our thoughts often wander to “Is God punishing me?”

Whatever circumstances surround this thought – an illness, a loved one’s death, a tragic event – we sometimes start digging into the past (recent or long ago) and pull out something we feel guilty about and attach our present situation to that.

The questions start swirling in our mind.

“Does God love me?”” Is God mad at me?”” What did I do wrong that (fill in the blank) is now happening?”“Oh, I did (fill in the blank) – what’s why all this is happening to me!”Is God’s Punishment Revenge?

When people think that God is “punishing” them, it often carries the idea that God makes us “pay” for our sin and wrong choices. That God is looking down on us and wanting revenge. We sin, and God is angry with us and wants us to suffer.

The Bible tells us that God does discipline us (we’ll talk more about that in a minute) but God does not get enjoyment from our suffering. Consider these Bible passages:

10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ – Ezekiel 33:10-11 NIV

 8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will He harbor His anger forever;
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities. – Psalm 103:8-10 NIV

3 If You, Lord, were to keep account of guilty deeds,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
So that You may be revered. – Psalm 130:3-4 NASB

24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in Your anger,
    or You will reduce me to nothing. – Jeremiah 10:24

Our God is a God of love and mercy. This does not mean that God ignores sin. Our actions certainly have consequences, and we should remember that when we are tempted to sin. We cannot “hide” what we have done from God. He knows our thoughts and hearts completely.

God does not discipline us to make us “pay” for our sins. In truth, we are incapable of doing anything to “pay” for our sin. Our human body is corrupted with sin and we are not holy or good or righteous apart from God. How could we ever “repay” a Holy, Good, and Righteous God?

    6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away. – Isaiah 64:6

9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.” – Romans 3:9-12

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, – Romans 3:23

We have nothing to offer God to “make up” for the sin we have committed. We can, however, offer God a willing and responsive heart.

God’s Discipline and Our Response

Hebrews 12:4-11 is a wonderful passage to study on the topic of God’s Discipline and our proper response to it.

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when He rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
    and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son.” – Hebrews 12:4-6

As children of God, the struggle between what our Spirit wants and what our flesh wants is intense (Galatians 5:17, Romans 7:21). We need to “resist sin” to the point of bloodshed. Not literal, physical blood – we are engaged in a Spiritual struggle. We need to keep going, to keep fighting, keep using God’s strength to win the Spiritual war over our flesh and our enemy. The more we resist sin, the less God will need to discipine us to correct our behavior.

We will fail at times – we are all infested with a sin nature and we all sin. And so, God’s discipline will come to us all. Not from the hand of an evil tyrant, but from the hand of our loving Father. We should neither ignore God’s discipline nor grow discouraged when we are experiencing it.

If God is disciplining us, we are truly His children!

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. – Hebrews 12:7-8

Although discipline is not fun, we have a right to be thankful for it. God loves us enough to correct us when our actions don’t line up with what God desires. God does not leave His children to stumble around in this life, with no concern or involvement from Him. He corrects, instructs, and guides us (Psalm 25:8). This is a sign that we are God’s children.

9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. – Hebrews 12:9-10

At the heart of God’s disciple is love and correction. God always desires our Spiritual good. He knows that when we sin, it harms our relationship with Him and with others. God knows that we will only destroy ourselves if we pursue our desires.

12 There is a way that appears to be right,
    but in the end it leads to death. – Proverbs 14:12

How much better it is to take God’s correction to heart and set our feet on the straight and narrow path!

11 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. – Hebrews 12:11

Discipline is not enjoyable, but it is necessary (and given in love). The goal of God’s discipline is our training in righteousness and peace.

We sow seeds every day and we will gather in what we planted. When we acknowledge that God knows what is good for us, when we submit our will to God’s will and accept His correction, then we will be blessed with righteousness and peace. When we allow ourselves to be trained by God’s instruction, we will gain a good harvest.

7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. – Romans 2:7-8

Experiencing God’s Discipline

8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. – Hebrews 12:8

All believers will suffer divine discipline for personal sin. What should we do when we are experiencing God’s discipline?

Confess Our Sin

Confession of sin always brings forgiveness from the Lord (1 John 1:9). After we confess our sin, we are again in fellowship with Jesus, and the divine discipline we are receiving is – while still not enjoyable – endurable. Our discipline might not end immediately upon confession, but we can be confident that God heard and granted our prayer for forgiveness.

Confession (admitting our sin) and repentance (changing our ways) is the goal of God’s discipline. He wants us to return to Him with our whole heart and again walk in the way of the Lord.

The more responsive we are to God’s discipline, the less suffering we will have to go through. If we are willing to be corrected quickly, and the first time, the less trouble we will bring down upon ourselves. A good principle to keep in mind when tempted to sin.

Rejoice in Our Adoption

 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! – 1 John 3:1a

We are God’s children and He loves us enough to protect us from the dangers of sin. Divine discipline is a sign of God’s amazing love for us. While our enemy would like nothing more than for us to sink deep into sin and totally destroy our faith, our Lord desires to correct, encourage, comfort and sustain us as we walk through this dark world. Sometimes that involves discipline to encourage us to return to the safe path – and we would be wise to respond quickly and completely.

17 Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,
    but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. – Proverbs 10:17

Endure Patiently

12 Blessed is the one You discipline, Lord,
    the one You teach from Your law; – Psalm 94:12

After confession, we should patiently endure the remainder of our discipline, knowing that God is a perfect Father, acting in perfect love. He knows exactly what will make us learn our lesson – and how long.

So let us not grow discouraged or doubt our Lord’s love when we are enduring discipline. He will bless us even in the midst of our discipline and relieve us at just the right time.

Remember the Instruction

The next time we are tempted to sin, we should remember the suffering we previously endured. The enemy would like to tell us that sin and its consequences don’t matter. This is just a lie.

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Let us not be deceived by our enemy or enticed by our own sinfulness. We might have to resist to the point of blood (see Hebrews 12:4), but if we are willing to fight, God will grant us the strength.

Trust in God’s Love

What more needs to be said on God’s love? We see God showing mercy and compassion to His children all throughout Scripture. We should not take this mercy for granted nor look upon it lightly, for our forgiveness was paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. Yet even all the great men and women of faith in the Bible were not perfect – and we are given many accounts of their failures. However, we see God willing and delighted to show them mercy whenever they confessed their sin and returned to Him. They did not shun His discipline but allowed themselves to be trained in righteouseness. Let us make it our practice to do the same.

18 Who is a God like You,
    who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
    of the remnant of His inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
    but delight to show mercy. – Micah 7:18 NIV

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