The Duffy Family

SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

No one manages in a lifetime to perfect this or rather not be in need of this. I believe it is something we in our imperfect selves will never be rid of until we see Jesus' face. It is necessary for teaching, molding and growing us into what we have always been intended to become...like Christ. I have been learning some difficult lessons lately and am excited to see God work his plan out in my life.

Control has always been an issue for me. I like control. I like knowing what is coming around the next corner. I like stability. I like consistency. I like making decisions; especially those that effect me. My mom is probably laughing as she reads this because I used to be a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of person...carefree and with no agenda. Maybe it comes with maturity. Maybe age does it to you. Maybe it's perspective. Maybe it's the gaining of responsibility. But part of me wishes it never came. Oh to have back those days of a carefree come-what-may attitude! Maybe I wouldn't be so stubborn, then maybe not. It doesn't really matter in the end. What matters is who I am now and who I am striving to become daily.

I am learning the valuable lesson of "it's not about me." I laugh and think..."Kinda behind aren't ya, Candice?" That's one of those famous phrases your mom uses when you are little and aren't getting your way..."Well, it's just not all about you!" It's really all part of being human though. We find ourselves consumed with what makes us happy, what we think is best for us, for our spouse, for our family and forget that it really isn't all about us. There's a bigger picture. And for me that picture is learning to love others...to give of myself for no other reason except that God commanded it. He is encouraging me to step out of the familiar...to leave it behind...to run from it embracing the unknown all the while knowing that He Will BE faithful. He will provide my needs and he will give me the desires of my heart...above anything I could ask or imagine. He has great things in store for me if only I will trust him and take the leap. Leave behind the will for control . Break free from the chains of consistency and revel in the freedom found in his infinite and limitless grace.

I Corinthians 3:7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

I only need to allow myself to be used. He will do the mighty work and I will get the blessing of watching it unveil. My mind also wanders to my children. Oh my heart's greatest desires for them!!! There is no love like the love for your child! How much I crave to see God's hand on their life...to see them grow into men and women that seek their Lord's face eagerly. It is my job to teach by example.
Proverbs 22:7 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. I cannot wait for the day when they find that path! The joy and the peace that path brings is the only completely satisfying thing in this life! I want them to know that! I want them to see that and to be able to grab hold of it and run with reckless abandon into the loving arms of their Saviour. I cannot choose this for them-I have no control here-I do the only thing I can...pray for God's overflowing grace and conviction in their lives.
Deuteronomy 7:9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. Again, he is faithful! His promises are true! He always comes through. He desires to LAVISH me with unfailing love...his PERFECT love.
Psalm 145:4 Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;let them proclaim your power. I want a story. I want to be used up by God. I want to be able to come to the end of my life and see mighty impossible things accomplished that were only possible because of my God. I want my children to have a story. I desire for them to grow up keenly aware of what a holy, awesome God we serve! I want them to see at an early age who our God is...his blessings, his correction, his love, his grace, his mercy, his forgiveness, his provision, his justness and so on...
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad.
Hebrews 12:5-11 My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
I discipline my children because I am told to...but mainly because I love them. I know they will not understand this now. I remember vividly my parent's famous last words before a spanking, "This hurts me so much more than it hurts you." I always thought (in my head of course) "yeah right" but it is so very true I have come to discover. It hurts to have to discipline my children. I hate it! But scripture is very specific that if I fail to do this, I will destroy their life. I and I alone will be responsible for sending them down the path of destruction. My father God disciplines me because he loves me...because he desires better for me...because he wants to teach me and make me into something better...for him and him alone.
I have been blessed with two little lives so far and every morning I wake up to those sweet little voices and am reminded that I have been given a task for the day: to be Jesus to them. To live by example...to read the word...to pray...to seek forgiveness...to be honest....to be selfless-all things that I, in and of myself, am incapable of being. I know I will stumble, I will fail them and others, but God will continue to discipline me and bring me back into reconciliation with him so that I can once again refocus and keep pressing on until that glorious day...when I will be free of all my imperfections and failures.