Lamentations 3:39-40 Why should any living man complain
when punished for his sins?
Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the LORD.

What an enormously logical statement! Sadly, few of us respond this way when things happen to us. With the entitlement mentality that is so prevalent, we expect the world to be handed to us on a platter, with no consequences for “bending the rules.” Such an attitude is asking for disaster! I would lean toward putting the blame for such an attitude on poor parenting. Discipline is a forgotten art, and society is reaping the fruit of that. Proverbs 13:24 is blunt, but demonstrably true: “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” When children grow up with no expectation of discipline, they are shocked when God is not Santa Claus. God is our perfect heavenly Father, but when we have not experienced a father who loves and cares for us enough to be fully present in our lives, we don’t know what that means. No human father is perfect, but by the grace of God we can do a fairly good job, if we will seek God enough to understand the guidelines.

I didn’t have a perfect father, certainly, but he certainly loved the Lord and wanted his household to run on Biblical principles. In turn I have been much the same. My failures produced some negative results in my children, but they are responsible, productive, and happy members of society. However, as a pastor I encounter many, many people who did not have such a home environment, and the younger people are, the less likely they are to have been disciplined properly, and so they are less likely to respond to circumstances the way Jeremiah did in this passage. I can’t go back and correct their past, so I need God’s grace, wisdom, and patience to speak the truth to them in love, living it out myself so that they may eventually absorb it and make their way out of their self-centered pity parties. I need to help them understand that God is never mean, and He does delight to bless us, but ignoring His rules brings consequences that are not pleasant, but are intended to turn us back to Him.

Father, I have seen some examples of horribly indulgent parenting on this trip, and I grieve. Keep me from coming across as holier-than-thou, but help me speak Your truth in love, so that generational curses may be broken and families set free to enjoy the abundance of Your grace, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!