Punishment exacts a cost, some type of pain, as a result of an infraction. The penalty may deter someone, but it is the transgression that is being addressed. Discipline, however, addresses the transgressor. While there may be some pain involved, it is only allowed or used as means for training.
The wages of our sin is death. That is the punishment. But for believers, that punishment was born at the cross by Jesus. That doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences. God uses our failures and the brokenness around us to teach. He redeems the pain and develops us, allowing us to grow and drawing us to Himself. The discipline of God is loving, not vengeful. I need never fear His rebuke.
When tragedy strikes, I need not fear that I am being punished for something. Our loving Father is not an abusive parent waiting for us to misstep. He responds out of mercy, not wrath. But He does allow repercussions in our life to draw us back or correct us when we wander. That He disciplines me is proof of His love. I can bear the discipline of God, even rejoice in it, because if I let it, it will bring me to Him.
My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a Father the son He delights in. Proverbs 3:11-12
