Job 36:10 He opens their ear to discipline, and says that they return from wickedness. 11 If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

      Discipline, as I have said in another article, is a cruel master, but a necessary companion. It does not always feel good or seem agreeable to walk a regimented life, but it is often necessary to accomplish the difficult challenges we come up against. To become disciplined in any area of our lives will take intentionality and willpower on our part. This is not a once-in-a-while activity. This is a full-time endeavour to make the right choices and continually realign our will when God points out we are off track. Discipline in itself cannot get us out of every problem, but it can fortify our attitudes while dealing with difficult tasks and unpleasant situations that are sure to come. Coaching ourselves to have the fortitude to overcome the cataclysmic events that can happen while living on this precarious earth will help us come through the toughest of times.

      We need to be disciplined and trained so we don’t lose sight of God’s direction in our lives. This is what God was trying to warn Cain about because Cain’s jealousy towards his brother Abel was causing Cain to lose control of his emotions and lose perspective of where he would end up if his attitude didn’t change. Gen. 4:7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain needed to discipline his rage, but as we know, this did not happen. The consequences of being undisciplined brought Cain into his life of vagrancy as he was sent away from his family and the only security he knew. Gen. 4:14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.

      Discipline can fix most problems if a disciplined approach is taken to solve the issue. It can help repair the mess we caused through our hearts’ disobedient attitudes. Many who have become jaded with life and unappreciative of living are most often the ones who cause the troubles they are going through and end up aimlessly wandering the outskirts of their lives and wondering what to do next. 2Tim. 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is why we need deliverance from ourselves and to develop an attitude of discipline in the teachings God is doing in our hearts. When we allow the Word of God to lead our decisions, we will soon notice that the Lord Himself is disciplined in righteousness and is looking for ways to bless our lives. Job 36:10 He opens their ear to discipline, and says that they return from wickedness. 11 If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

      We allow the circumstances of life to dictate whether or not we are going to have a good day or not. Disciplining our minds in the middle of a conflict is the skill we need to develop. This was the problem King Saul was having when he disobeyed the Word of the Lord that Samuel brought concerning what he had been told to do to Amalek and the Amalekites. 1Sam. 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. The Amalekites were the descendants of Esau and were the first to attack Israel when they had left Egypt for the Promised Land. God’s judgment was upon these people, and King Saul was the weapon God was going to use. However, Saul was not disciplined in listening to instructions. 1Sam. 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

      The word of the Lord came to Samuel, and God expressed His disappointment in making Saul King because Saul could not obey instructions. 1Sam. 15:11 I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. Once Samuel met up with Saul and confronted him concerning his disobedience, there was a lot of denial, excuses, and reinterpretations of God’s word that was given to him. In the end, Saul fessed up to the real reason for not doing what God had instructed. 1Sam. 15:24 Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the LORD’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. The fear of people can cause the best of us to become undisciplined and forget that God’s purposes are why we are here on this earth.

      Free will is a burden when we wield it like we are gods and pretend there are no consequences to our actions. Free will can lead many into trouble when they treat it like a free-for-all, regardless of the downfall it causes to themselves and others. 2Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. We have the choice to obey the disciplines we are taught. A disciplined heart can address and rectify many of the problems we create through our recklessness.

      I have found myself expressing these thoughts lately. When I sin, or see a problem in my life with a trace of bitterness taking place that I am not proud of, I say out loud, “Discipline in Christ can fix that.” Now the question that arises in my heart is, “Do I want to be disciplined in that part of my life?” That is the question everyone needs to deal with. Yes, discipline can fix most issues, but how badly do we want the issues fixed? Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts. God, please keep our hearts disciplined towards Your will because, in the end, Your will is the only thing that matters that needs to be obeyed. May we all rise to this challenge with the Lord’s righteousness and grace working through our lives.