“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth.” (Pr 3:11-12 AV)
This morning, I prayed and asked the LORD for some words of encouragement. I wondered why every day has to be filled with correction. Not that I don’t deserve it. Probably far more than most. This is before I knew what it was that I was going to read. We started out in Zechariah chapters 10-12. Chapters 10 and 11 regard the shepherds who lead the people astray or, at the very least, simply do not care about the people. That is when I prayed that prayer. Psalm 92 was next. That is a great psalm. It is filled with encouragement and praise. I thought the LORD had answered my prayer. Then we closed out with Proverbs chapter three. And this is what I read. Those who think the LORD has no sense of humor have not walked with Him very long or deeply. So, here I sit with a chuckle in my chest and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Father loves me!
There is one word here that often gets overlooked: delighteth. It means, “to be pleased with, be favourable to, accept favourably”. Now, note here in particular the tense of God’s delight. It is not after the chastening or correction. Rather, it is before the correction. The delight of the LORD is present prior to correction being administered. What an encouragement! We know we displease the LORD when we sin, recoil in fear, or fail to live up to His expectations of us. Our earthly fathers would definitely not be delighted in us. They would be angry. They would be displeased. They might even be embarrassed. Not God! Not our heavenly Father! Regardless of what I have done or failed to do, He is pleased, favourable, and accepts me. It is my actions, or failure to act, that cause His displeasure. It is important that we remember this. If we do not, we will misunderstand our relationship with the LORD and see Him as a permanently angry God whom we can never please.
If we grow weary of correction from God, then we do not understand the nature of our relationship. Remember also that His pleasure and favour are predicated on foreknowledge as well. He knows before we do how we will respond to His hand. He knows exactly what buttons to push that will get us where He wants us to be. He is a confident Father who knows regardless of our immediate reaction to His hand that we will be transformed into the image of His dear Son and that nothing or no one can stay His hand. What do you know? He did give a great word of encouragement this morning. You and I are children of God. He is a Father who delights in His children because He knows what we will become far better than we ever will. He rejoices not in what is, but what will be. His favour is not completely based on our present condition, but rather, on what He knows we will be. His delight, then, is manifested in part by correction. Using the word ‘molding’ perhaps helps us to understand the hand of God a little differently. Correction is not solely an act of justice. Rather, correction from a father has shaping and mentoring as the motive. That is delight! Praise God that He delights in us!
No comments:
Post a Comment