Besides the active spiritual disciplines which are revealed in God’s Law – seeking Him, assembling to Him, hearing Him, and so forth – the Lord also explains that He brings other disciplines to bear on behalf of His people from time to time. Whereas the people of God are to be actively involved in certain spiritual exercises, they would be more passive in receiving the disciplines we shall be examining in what follows.

The word, “discipline,” comes from a Hebrew root which combines in one idea various related ones. The essence of musar (from yasar) is “instruction.” But it also means to chastise or correct. Implied in the idea of “discipline” therefore is the need for change in our lives. God disciplines us because something about our lives needs changing or improving. He provides us with active disciplines so that we may learn to seek Him and grow in Him gradually, as He instructs and transforms us through the various means of grace. In passive spiritual disciplines the Lord brings us to situations which, while they are typically not pleasant, they are always intended to draw us closer to the Lord, which is the purpose of our covenant relationship with Him.

Understanding this, we can receive the passive discipline of the Lord with gratitude and joy. Even though, as we shall see, such disciplines are not pleasant, still, the hand of the Lord is in them for our good. We will only benefit from the passive disciplines of the Lord when we learn to receive them with thanksgiving and look to the Lord for the instruction, correction, or growth He is seeking to accomplish in us.

So we must not despise the trials, difficulties, temptations, setbacks, disappointments, and so forth that we encounter in our walk with the Lord. They come to us from our Father’s hand; they are completely in line with His covenant promise to bless us; and they can fit us for a closer and more consistent walk with Him, and greater service in His Name.

For a more complete exposition of the promises of God, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store. How do Jesus and the Law relate? To learn mo