In the winter, I love heat. We have an old house, and to keep parts of it as warm as we like, we have a couple of space heaters going. Our front porch doubles as our gym, so we want it warm when we work out. Our kitchen has just one partial vent, so it also is colder than what we prefer.
I’m a runner, and I think my favorite time to run outside is during the spring. The outside air temperature is almost perfect in April and May. Although, it’s funny to me how sometimes I’ll drive to work with the heat on and home from work with the air conditioning on.
In the summer, naturally, the heat is off. During the fall, I think I’m like most Ohioans in that I’ll play a game called “how long can we keep the heat off before we freeze?”
We like to control the heat
We do everything we can to stay warm in the winter, comfortable in the spring, cool in the summer, and stubborn in the fall. My mom likes her house considerably cooler than Steph and me. Mom keeps her house around 65 degrees all year. It’s a given that, as soon as we arrive, I embrace childhood rebellion and adjust her thermostat.
Did you catch what I said? I said I embrace rebellion. Mind you, if Mom told me that I wasn’t allowed to touch her thermostat, I’d listen. While I’m making light of the situation, pay attention to the wisdom in Hebrews 12:5.
And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you.” — Hebrews 12:5
In the same way that we try to control our physical comfort, we also try to control our spiritual comfort. And that, my friends, is a much more dangerous game than Mom and I messing with the thermostat.
Discipline
Has God ever disciplined you? He has me. It wasn’t fun. God let me learn a very hard lesson a few years back, and I’m not proud of how I responded. Like a stubborn child, I continued to see things with my own eyes instead of with His wisdom.
There are many reasons why God might (will?) need to discipline us. In some ways, we’re just like the toddler hanging out around our mom’s stove. We have to touch the heat ourselves to believe that, yes, it’s hot and will burn you!
Sometimes, that burn will linger for years to come. Other times, it heals quickly. When that happens, is it because of God’s grace or mercy?
Grace and Mercy
Our worship leader at church recently broke down the difference between grace and mercy to us. As he put it, “Grace is giving us something we don’t deserve…Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve.” I thought that was powerful.
We deserve the burns we receive by disobeying God. When the burn heals quickly, that’s grace.
However, what if we chose to leave our hand on the stove for a long time? Now we’re going to have a much more serious burn. The heat has penetrated deep into the skin because of our rebellion. We deserve much more than an “ouchie”: we deserve the accompanying boils and blisters.
When God chooses to not allow them to manifest, that’s mercy.
Our Trials
I’ve focused a lot on disobedience. There are times God allows the heat to rise, not because He’s punishing us, but because He’s growing us.
There will be times you appear to be suffering discipline, when in reality, God is allowing the diamond in you to form.
Earlier, I said that we like to control the heat. We think we’re in control of our own destiny. However, if we are willing to trust God, His plan will be infinitely better than ours. He may be testing you to see if the diamond in you is ready to be revealed.
The Perfect Blend
James 1:2-4 explains this concept with perfect clarity.
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Let your endurance grow! I don’t know what you’re facing. God may have you in a period of discipline. Alternatively, He may be about to reveal His glory in your life.
In either case, today’s Perfect Blend is meant to encourage you.
Trust God. He will reveal everything in His time.