God’s care for His people does not only mean that He carries them as a man carries his son, but also that He disciplines them as a man disciplines his son. The fact that God our Father disciplines us proves that we are His beloved children: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord … for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:5–6). “But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons” (v. 8).

The word discipline does not only, or even primarily, refer to punishment, but includes everything that God does to educate us, to restore our souls, and to work in our lives.

There are, generally speaking, two dangers when God deals with us in discipline in our lives. They are both mentioned here: “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him’” (v. 5). One danger is that we despise the chastening, or regard it lightly, as if nothing special was happening. I am not asking what God wants to teach me, and so I doubt the wisdom of God in dealing with me in that way. The other danger is to faint, to get weary or discouraged under the discipline, which shows that our confidence in God’s love is weak. We can be guarded against both dangers when we consider the fact that God deals with us as a man disciplines his son.