Beneficial Displeasure – 3.31.09

1 Kings 1:6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.

The above statement is made regarding a man by the name of Adonijah – a son of David who got ambitious as his father drew near to death and made an attempt to claim the throne (Solomon was the rightful heir). And what a sad statement it is.

Reminds me of a man named Eli. He was a high priest in Israel not long before the days of King David, and he was father to two wicked sons by the name of Hophni and Phinehas. The Bible says they were sons of Belial. According to 1 Samuel 3:13 God told him that He would judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

With that in mind, I've just got a quick thought for today. I want to thank God for parents who weren't afraid of displeasing me. I want to thank God for a mom and dad who restrained me – whether I liked it or not – instead of letting me do my own thing and make myself vile. Praise the Lord I was brought up in a home where my parents didn't "love" me so much that they failed to chasten me while there was still hope (Proverbs 19:18). I'm so glad that the way my parents raised me didn't give me the idea that God's love meant that He would not judge my sin.

There were definitely many times when I despised and resented the rules, the restrictions, the standards, what I perceived as missed opportunities, and blamed my parents for what I looked at as a deprived adolescent-hood (no, I didn't just make up that word). But today I regret the grief and the gray hairs I'm sure I caused and thank God for all the things I was deprived of.

So parents hang in there. And young people, realize that one day you'll thank God for the things your parents do that make you roll your eyes or grit your teeth – and the sooner the better.