Instructions
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Hebrews 12:5-11 KJV
The chastening of the Lord is greatly misunderstood. Many believe that it is sickness, disease, calamity, disasters. But God never puts negative things on us. In the "Lords Prayer" we are taught to pray, and ask God to not lead us into temptation and to deliver us from evil.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” James 1:13, 17 NASB
So how does God chasten us? He teaches us through His word. He wants to train us and bring us to maturity. We must be open and yielded to His leading us and teaching us. We must seek to understand and honor His word. We must hear the voice of His Spirit within us and be committed to follow the leading of His Spirit. Sometimes this is unpleasant because we want to do something else and it is painful and distressing to choose to do what the Father wants.
When we were pastoring in Texas, a very poor family came to the church and we reached out to them. They came into some money and bought camping equipment and invited us to go camping with them. Our family really did not want to go but I felt that it was the will of God that we go. We went for a night.
Jesus, in the garden of Gethsamane, was in a struggle about doing the Father's will because of the horror of dying for our sins but Jesus was resolved to do the will of the Father. We have not resisted doing our own will when it is contrary to the Father's will to the point of shedding our blood but Jesus sweat blood in His determination to do the will of the Father.
“Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.”
Psalms 25:8, 12 NASB
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Psalms 32:8 NASB
“Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. Psalms 78:1 NASB