Only What We Can Endure

“Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.” (Am 7:5 AV)

Our nation has a principle against cruel and unusual punishment.  At the root of this value is a two-fold understanding.  The punishment must fit the crime.  But second, there is an idea of human dignity.  There is a point when punishment can surpass justice and swerve into the area of vengeance.  When justice is served yet punishment continues is not a godly value.  Such was the case above.  Amos asked a great question.  There were covenants made to Israel.  Yet, if justice is surpassed, then the covenants are no longer able to be honored.  If Jacob (Israel) is punished into oblivion, then he cannot arise and honor the LORD through those covenants which the LORD made with them.  God’s justice is tempered by His mercy.  His jurisprudence is bound by His covenantal promises.  When the LORD chastens us, it for correction.  Not for destruction.

Many decades ago, I knew of a parent who did not understand this principle when it came to his own children.  He would spank an errant child for minutes rather than seconds.  In extreme cases, in that time of our history or culture, that may have been needed.  But not as a routine practice.  These children were chastened beyond their capacity to endure it.  Not physically.  Physically they were fine.  There was no physical abuse whatsoever.  However, emotionally they may have suffered from it.  To this day, his now grown and adult children do not have a normal respect for this parent.  Their relationship has been harmed because a balance between justice and mercy was not sought.

In my own life, I know times when the LORD has chastened me to the limit of what I could endure.  It was at that time that I cried out to the LORD for His mercy.  Many times, we are chastened and think we are so to our limit.  But there have been a few times when I understood what that limit was.  It was at that time that I prayed and asked the LORD for mercy because deep down inside, I knew that I could not endure one more moment.  And, the LORD heard that cry.  If we are saved, then we must understand that God is not out to destroy us.  He is out to correct us.  We may feel like the end is near sometimes, but the LORD knows our limits and will not cross them.  He loves is that much!