The job of parenting is constant. Even simple instructions need to be repeated over and over before they are learned. As parents, we seek to be patient and persevere because of the rewards we desire for our children, but the task isn’t easy.

It doesn’t matter whether the lesson concerns “don’t touch,” “eat your vegetables,” or “look before you cross the street,” lessons aren’t learned with just one simple instruction. It takes many repetitions. Parents of toddlers look forward to the day when children are older and all those lessons are past. Parents of pre-teens and teens long for the days when instruction was as simple as in toddler days.

Training children is demanding. Many things take a long time to teach.

I’m sure God would agree. After all, He has more children than we can count. Many times a day, He probably shakes His head and says, “Will he/she never learn?”

One problem with learning a lesson is understanding when to apply it and how. For instance, teaching a child to respect his elders, it’s more complex than it might appear. It seems straight-forward to teach fundamentals like “obey and don’t talk back.” But that involves the will, so it isn’t a simple thing to learn.

However, that is just the beginning. The child must then understand that it applies to more than Dad and Mom. There’s also Grandma, teacher, baby sitter, and occasionally someone else. Each situation is different. The child needs to learn whom to obey—and when.

But that isn’t all. We haven’t even touched on the idea of having an attitude of respect. Or that we need to show respect to all people. At all times.

The same difficulties of learning exist with God’s children. Take the area of trust. The Lord is our Creator, Father, Shepherd, Stronghold, Bulwark, and more. His ways are perfect and His love is pure. He is worthy of our trust.

We know that, and yet, we have difficulty learning to trust Him in all things at all times. (At least I do, and I believe I’m not alone.). For instance, when finances are tight, rather than turning to God, we feel that a solution depends on us. Often, relief doesn’t come until we look to Him, seeking Jehovah Jirah to provide.

When demands on our life are great, and it seems we can’t carry on or do what is demanded of us, we fret and stew because we are inadequate. We waste energy with the burden and lose sleep from worry, all while God is waiting. Finally we trust and He carries the burden with us.

Then when health concerns arise, we feel totally helpless, and likely hopeless. There is nothing we can do but suffer. We’re slow to apply trust when we see no solution. Meanwhile, God is waiting for us to let Him carry us through the storm.

It seems that learning trust in one area does not automatically carry over to us trusting in another area of our lives. If we look at the Israelites in the wilderness, we see that God miraculously provided water for them. However, when they needed water again,  they fussed at Moses rather than trust God (Gen. 15:23-25; 17:1-3). Even when trust deals with the same area of our lives, we are slow to learn.

Without trust, there is no peace unless everything is going our way. If and when we trust the Lord with and in every day life, we are at peace—even though the our situation seems difficult at the moment.

In Proverb 3:11 it says, “the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in,” I’ve tended to think of that discipline as referring to correction or rebuke. The original Hebrew word includes correction, but it also means instruction. Our loving Father continues to instruct, to train us in righteousness. If we constantly look to Him and are quick to learn, He will bless us.

As parents, we understand the need for perseverance and patience. As children, God’s children, we need to understand how to “cease striving and know that [He is] God” (Ps. 46:10a), and “commit [our] way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it” (Ps 37:5).

Instead of embracing lessons in life, we tend to grumble about the discipline. It might help us cooperate more fully if we look at the rewards listed in Deuteronomy and Hebrews, rewards that we receive from being disciplined by the Lord. Knowing God’s purposes might help us gain peace in our lives.

“Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”  (Deut. 8:5-10)

“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

” Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? “If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

“Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Heb. 12:5-11).

Life has challenges, but we can be grateful that our heavenly Father uses them to train us, because discipline has rewards that make the challenges worthwhile.