“Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
bound in affliction and irons
because they rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High,
therefore he brought down their heart with labor;
they fell down, and there was none to help.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them out of their distresses;
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and broke their chains in pieces.”
Psalm 107:10-14

There are two ways to respond to the discipline of the Lord. Some rebel and go deeper into prideful self-will. Others surrender, they come to repentance – and these are they who will be brought out of darkness and distress. They will be restored.

Just as a parent will tell the child not to touch the hot stove, invariably the child will touch it anyway and that may be the only way the child will learn not to touch the hot stove. It’s the same with all believers. We know what the Word says, but there are things that only discipline can teach. Do not resist the discipline. It’s not forever, and it has a very real purpose. Give up your pride and surrender to the Lord, and he will bring something beautiful out of it.

“Now no chastening seems to be joyful
for the present, but painful,
nevertheless, afterward it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down,
and the feeble knees, and make straight paths
for your feet, so that what is lame
may not be dislocated, BUT RATHER BE HEALED.”
Hebrews 12:11-13