natasha again

This morning I had another encounter with Natasha. After all the weeks of lashing out against the milking protocol; after weeks of nervousness, today was different. She casually chewed her cud as I prepared her for her turn in the milking process. She quietly stood as the milking process continued. For the 6-8 minutes that it took to milk her, she was as relaxed as when she was a heifer on a sun-drenched pasture. I could detect no traces of the McDonald's special sauce on her, no shreds of lettuce were anywhere to be found. In fact she smelled a lot like a real live cow. I am happy for Natasha!

Since my Wednesday morning milking duties occur long before the world awakens, I usually have lots of time to think without distractions. Once again Natasha stirred my thoughts about discipline and fruitfulness. She is becoming productive and fruitful due to the fact that she submitted to the process of discipline even though at the time, the discipline seemed harmful to her.

It occurred to me how often Christians complain of being attacked by the devil. Frequently the felt discomfort is not so much an attack from the devil as it is a painful reaction to God's discipline. We kick against God's parameters. When the resulting pain occurs, we are quick to blame "the enemy". In reality, we are not being attacked by the devil, rather we are experiencing the self-inflicted pain of resisting God's hand.

During one of the most deeply formative seasons of my spiritual life, it seemed as if God was my enemy. Every strength of mine, every identity fell under the hand of God. When I finally quit kicking against His hand, life became more simple and somehow more free than ever before. It was during that season that I learned to look for the hand of God in the midst of pain of discipline.

Be careful when attributing discomfort to an attack from the devil. Without a doubt we have an enemy that seeks to destroy us. However, in the hand of God he becomes a tool for our spiritual growth. I am convinced that the majority of our discomfort is not from some demonic attack. Instead it is a result of our self-centered reaction to God's discipline.