Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 12:9
“Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?”
John Owen said that to submit to the Father of our spirits denotes “an acquiescence in his sovereign right to do what he will with us as his own; a renunciation of self-will; an acknowledgment of his righteousness and wisdom in all his dealings with us; a sense of his care and love, with a due apprehension of the end of his chastisements; a diligent application of ourselves unto his mind and will, or to what he calls us to in an especial manner at that season; a keeping of our souls by persevering faith from weariness and despondency; a full resignation of ourselves to his will, as to the matter, manner, times, and continuance of our afflictions.”
Owen’s quote is a mouthful, but I’ve used it because it’s such a complete description of the attitude and response toward adversity we need to develop. I encourage you to go back over it several times until you fully grasp what he said.
Submitting to God’s discipline doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pray for relief from the difficulty or seek legitimate means to gain relief. Sometimes the end God has in mind is to exercise our faith, so he brings us into straitened circumstances so that we might look up to him and see his deliverance. But strengthening our faith is an important aspect of discipline.
The main thing is our attitude. We can pray earnestly to God for relief and still be submissive to him regarding the outcome. Jesus is our supreme example in this as he prayed the night before his crucifixion, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39, NIV). (Excerpt taken from The Discipline of Grace)
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