“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of His reproof,
for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.”
(Proverbs 3:12)
No one welcomes affliction. No one embraces difficulties. In fact, the largest percentage of our prayers and prayer requests consists of pleas for God to remove our affliction and resolve our difficulties. But a sadder fact is that the only time some Christians seek God at all is when they experience hard times.
How this must break the heart of God, especially considering the level of tenderness and love with which He speaks about this subject in Proverbs 3:12: “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of His reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom He loves, as a father the son in whom He delights.” God sends us afflictions for our good, which stem from His love to us.
A good parent continually instructs and disciplines the child they treasure. How much more so does an all-wise, all-knowing God desire to do for those He loves with an infinite love! Romans 8:28 assures us that whatever comes our way must first come through God – who more than proved His love for us through Christ – so we would do well to seek Him even more intently in times of difficulty for grace and wisdom to submit to His instruction.
The mature Christian understands that times of trouble allow the perfect opportunity to grow closer to our Lord. Paul’s hunger to know God more intimately demonstrates this truth when he says, “that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (Phil. 3:10). Apart from fellowship – or sharing – in sufferings we cannot come to know Christ on a deeper, more personal level.
So as children of a good and wise heavenly Father, we would do well to submit to our Lord’s dealings with us in order to ensure that our afflictions are ultimately beneficial to us. For God’s discipline is not without purpose: “… [God] disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness,” (Heb. 12:10-11).
Frowning providences are never to be dismissed without purpose. Because our God is sovereign and directs all people and events in His universe, such times of trouble are not merely circumstantial or accidental or the result of natural causes or random events of chance. This error in thinking removes divine providence from our spiritual awareness and replaces it with menial and trivial excuses. This attitude discredits the spiritual value of afflictions.
Christians must also take care not to complain and despise affliction for doing so puts us in contempt of God and His will. The difficulties He inflicts are a real part of His providence, as much as the blessings He bestows. William Bates rightly said, “In the course of nature, the darkness of the night is by His order, as well as the light of the day. All things He orders is by some wise and holy design.”
So rather than ignoring or despising such frowning providences, determine that by faith you will see God’s tenderness and love for you in these times… for you are His child in whom He delights.
- Lord, Your Word compares me to the most unobservant creatures – sheep, a wild colt, a deaf snake, and a silly dove who has no heart. (Job 11:12; Psa. 58:4; Hos. 7:11). Do I willfully neglect to see Your providences in my life?
- Lord, how spiritually sensitive am I? Do I despise Your discipline? My affections were planted in me by Your hand, and they should be used in a right manner. Help me listen and take heed when frowning providences encompass me in order that I may learn what you desire to teach me.
- There is a natural stubbornness in my heart against You, Lord, which I inherited from Adam. And one of the worst effects of sin in me is not learning well in Christ’s school of affliction. My heart has such a natural hardness to it that I am often callous. Sin’s subtle nature creeps up on me like a creeping poison vine. It causes spiritual laziness and robs me of the opportunities to grow through trial. Keep my heart pure, Lord, that I may learn of You, particularly those lessons that only affliction can teach.
Further References for Proverbs 3:12
Deut. 8:5; Rev. 3:19; 1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:5; Job 5:17
