Have you ever said or thought to yourself, 'why do bad people always seem to "get away with it? And good people never seem to catch a break'?
As a believer in Jesus, the scariest thing that God can ever do is stop correcting you. Every time you want to run back to the world and return to an old sin or vice, God pulls out His "spiritual belt" to pull you right back. Don't call it punishment, call it proof. Proof that you are still His child. See, a father doesn't chase every child in the neighborhood with that same assertive discipline. He only does that for His own.
The greatest evidence that you're God's child isn't that life is easy. Oh no no no. It's that every time you start running away or acting up, your Father comes after you. There's a reason why God let some people get away with things. And it's probably not what you think. There was a time I thought God was punishing me. I soon learned it wasn't punishment, He was parenting me! Everybody can do wrong but not everybody can get away with it. Stepping outside of Christ and slipping back into the abyss of sin can result in godly chastisement and usually ends in LESSON LEARNED.
Think about it this way. Your child's friend comes over to your house and they start jumping around on the couch with dirty, muddy, shoes. Who is going to get in trouble worse? Your child. Why? Because they know better. As far as the neighbors child, He might get a warning, whatever the case might be, but your child is going to get disciplined. I love the Bible because it captures how we really feel. In the book of Psalms 73:3 it says, "I envied the arrogant because I saw the prosperity of the wicked." So I questioned, " God, Christians can slip and do the same things as sinners but why does it seem the non-Christian gets it easier than we do when they clearly admit they don't even believe in you? Why aren't they chastised? His response really hit me. I heard, "I don't touch what doesn't belong to me." THAT'S NOT REJECTION. THAT'S RELATIONSHIP.
Unanswered sin is not approved sin!
God doesn't correct everybody, He corrects HIS children. And the closer you are to God, the higher the standards become . This is absolutely true. "To whom much is given, much will be required" (Luke 12:48). Society calls that bad luck but God calls it discipline. In the book of Hebrews it says, "Do not make light of the Lords discipline and do not lose heart when (NOT IF) when He rebukes you." Because the Lord disciplines the ones He loves and He chastises everyone He accepts as His Son" (12:5-6)
I'll go deeper. A few verses down it says God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? Let's go a little further down still. It says, "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).
So maybe God isn't harder on you because He hates you. Maybe He's harder on you because He claimed you. When God puts His hand on you He doesn't just let you run like everybody else. Some people are getting away with it but you're being rescued and saved from yourself. He watches over us, guides us, directs our paths. And if we get off track, He lovingly brings us back through some lesson. Some people are being left alone but you're being loved too much to be left alone! Let that sink in. Don't envy people God hasn't interrupted. Delayed judgment is not favor. Remember that.
Until He Comes,
-Pat-
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