Focus: Psalms 94:12-13 - KJV
12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; 13. That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
Hebrews 12:5-8
The graph of life is never a straight line; it is made of curves. The Lord who knows the ending from the beginning and works assiduously to ensure we come to an expected end, is always about us to guide us when the enemy comes with his tantrums seeking to devour us. This works in a way that God allows us to be in limbo, away from the traps of the enemy. And often time, when the enemy tries to lure us away from the expected end, we end up towing his line thereby going away from the will of God. To bring us back in line with the Lord’s program, He allows us to come under some chastisement of sort, to trim our excesses and help us to focus on the goal set before us. When the chastisement comes, it is never palatable, even though the end result is meant to make us stand tall.
Looking at the life of Jacob who was later named Israel, he was a man whom the mother had transferred her love to, in neglect of her first born. In so doing, she made him a child of her bosom thereby making him a home boy, while his brother was a man of the field. To change this man who carried in him a generational blessing, into the template of God, he had to go into servitude for many years in the hands of his uncle who treated him like a slave. At the fullness of time, when his hands had been cultured to trade and he knew how to be a resourceful shepherd, God restored him to his destiny. Refusing to hearken to the chastisement of the Lord is a vice. Some would say “why would a kind God allow this to happen to me?” God does not afflict anyone with evil. That down time is allowed to shape us into the character of the son so as to grow in stature. The Bible even records that Christ learnt obedience through suffering. Why should ours be different?
Dearly beloved, some of the things we pass through, like affliction, are permitted to culture us in the ways of God. If things are allowed to continue in the rosy fashion, we may end up a shipwreck. If, however, we will open our minds to learn from the things we suffer, we will realize that which God wants us to, and begin to tow the path of God for our eventual success in our life’s journey. If, on the other hand, we refuse to learn and hearken, there is not much we expect the Lord to do for us as His offspring, for every child that rejects the chastening of the father is simply a bastard. It is only the child that the father loves that he chastens. When the father leaves the child to do as he pleases, he has left him to early destruction. God hates that we be destroyed and that is why He chastises us per time, to forestall our following the path that leads to destruction.
SOLUTION: Endure chastisement; learn from it and ensure you grow by it. As the father is more experienced about life than the child to teach him the ways to get to the heights, so is our God more insightful about life and the world to teach us all the curves and how to breakthrough. Follow the leading of God even if it appears a bit daunting for now.
Please pray: Heavenly father, we thank you for loving and guiding us. Your words are that you will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we can bear. Therefore, Lord, in our chastisement, help to bring us to early understanding and escape from the scourge in Jesus’ name. Do not let us crash in the course of it, dear Lord, in Jesus’ name. In the end, make us your shining light for others to copy, in Jesus mighty name.
If you are blessed by this post, kindly share with your contacts, as well as others, that they may be blessed also. Thank you and may God bless you abundantly as you do so, in Jesus’ name.
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