Consequences are the undertow of sin. They linger long after the wave of sin breaks, and can pull many away from the shore of safety.

This was true in King David’s life. The undertow of his sin with Bathsheba affected many others—and himself—far longer and deeper than he could have ever imagined. From the chapters that chronicle this set of years in his life (2 Samuel 11-19) we learn the following about consequences.

1. Consequences never sing a solo.
2. Consequences can take a physical toll and increase fear.
3. Consequences can make us emotionally weak and passive.
4. Consequences can continually extract credibility and leave us with a lessening influence.
5. Consequences can force us to trust and not twist.

When the fifth principle has its fullest and deepest effect, we begin to realize that consequences are actually God’s discipline through natural, temporal means for supernatural purposes. And one of those purposes? To teach us to trust! Yes, consequences can be one of God’s tools of discipline to turn us—and keep us turned—towards trusting him and him alone.