Delight Series #3: The Delight of His Discipline.
The morning was humid and warm without a breath of air moving. I made myself down the forest path with a manual weed whip. The thin vines in this part of the forest are much stronger than twine, so a powered weed cutter will often stall as the vines wrap around the head. There is no avoiding the need to mechanically remove the worst of the vines. It took over an hour with sweat pouring off me to complete 150 yards. All the way through the job, I had to remind myself of the goal, and the necessity to be persistent and steady to get the job finished.
The process is also a picture of the discipline of the Holy Spirit. If I stay engaged with Him as He removes the patterns of this world that entangle me, the path of grace begins to take shape. While the way through the current circumstance sometimes seems arduous, I have experienced the delight of his discipline as I look back. The requirement on my part is to stay engaged with Him and resist putting Him aside or forgetting him.
Hebrews 12:11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (NASB 1995)
You, too, can know the delight of discipline from the Lord as you walk with him.
