Accepting Both

“Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good? Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?” (La 3:38-39 AV)

Lamentations is a tough book in which to find encouragement for trials of faith.  The overwhelming theme of the book is God’s correction for backslidden Israel.  There are some encouraging statements in the book, but they are in the context of God’s chastening had resulting in a positive outcome.  In our verse above, there is a good question.  A question of equity or fairness.  Not on God’s part.  Rather, on our part.  If we will expect and appreciate words of encouragement or blessings for obedience, then why would we complain when the LORD corrects us?  Cannot we be consistent and appreciate what the LORD does no matter the cause?  If we can accept affirmation for a job well done, cannot not we accept criticism when we fail?  That is the question put before us today.

Back in the day when my son played High School baseball, the head coach asked me to pitch in (no pun intended) and lend a hand with these young men.  I coached a bit of pitching, but my main job was to encourage the young men when the coach got on their case.  I never questioned the coach’s authority or methods.  That would have undermined his ability to lead the team.  The job of the assistant coach is to de-escalate the situation and help the young player both see the coach’s point of view and help the player submit to the demands of the leader.  It was easy for the player to accept the accolades that came with a great play or good averages.  Something different when the coach gets in his face and gives in a tongue lashing for flubbing a ground ball.  The player that I recently wrote about was one such player.  He had an immense amount of raw talent.  He could make plays that most could not.  His batting needed some work, but his defensive skills were off the chart.  What’s worse is that he knew it.  We were trying to prep him for college play.  However, his temper was his nemesis.  He did not take criticism or instruction well.  I was supposed to coach him as a reliever.  It worked for a while, but he just wouldn’t believe me when I had him do certain drills.  He thought he knew better.  Not wanting to receive the negative as well as the positive held him back in his skill set for two years.

Everyone wants to hear words of affirmation.  We desire to know when we did something right.  We want to know that we are appreciated.  We desire to know when we make authority figures proud.  Yet, we have a hard time when that same authority figure offers legitimate criticism or correct.  Even more so if it from the LORD.  The question above is a fair one.  It is my experience that if a person will not accept correction as well as affirmation, he will probably receive neither.