“One day, I asked her why she never cried after getting her spankings. She smiled real big and lifted her skirt up to show me the two pairs of shorts on underneath. With that, she ran away, laughing. I stood there, stunned for a brief moment, and then smiled and sat down. Here she was preparing herself each day to get into trouble by wearing extra clothing to absorb the force of the wood. Everyone else cried from the pain of the paddle. Not this girl. She would take her swats and merrily walk back to class as if she had just been to the drinking fountain for some water.”

“Each day, this girl prepared herself with the intention of not making a real effort to change or behave. She went through her school days, preparing for the consequences of bad choices instead of making good choices. How many times do we end up preparing ourselves to make bad choices instead of making good choices, and choosing to do the right thing? I believe it happens more than we think.”

when it comes to this girl’s behavior: She thought she was fooling the teachers and everyone around her., May I suggest to you that she wasn’t fooling everyone? Yes, you guessed it! She wasn’t fooling God, and neither are we!

We go through our daily lives thinking we’re getting away with stuff when we’re secretive, deceptive, or dishonest. People keep secrets from other people and hide things that are not honorable, glorifying, above board, honest, sincere, or acceptable to God, and we know it. All the while, we think we’re doing good, and getting by. No one knows any differently, but people are sorely misled if they believe God doesn’t see what’s happening.

God saw this girl dress this way every day and don’t think for a moment it didn’t grieve the Holy Spirit to know she refused to approach her behaviors a different way. Don’t you think God would have much preferred she meet with him every day in place of the paddle? I believe God would have preferred she sought him out and asked for help, asked him to change her way of thinking, her behaviors, and the way she acted in class.

Ephesians 4:30 says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

I once had a young person tell me, “God can’t see what I do in the dark.” With that, I responded, “Sweetheart, God made the dark, so he can see you.”

You should have seen the look of horror strike her face that morning.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at another point regarding the girl’s behavior. In the meantime, chew on this one for a while and pray for me. Thanks for your time and may God bless you and be with you as you seek to speak to Him today.