The Blessing of Breaking

God’s correction and discipline are times of difficulties but they are times of great blessings too. When we err and we choose things that are not in the will of God for us we feel the harsh rod of the Shepherd. Sometimes we tend to doubt the love of God for us when He uses the rod and tend to measure God’s love for us by how much He can give us the material prosperity and wishes we long for. Yet, the Bible is clear that God, who is full of mercy and lovingkindness, disciplines His people and uses painful circumstances to teach His children what they could hardly learn from days of abundance and ease. God’s purpose is for us to grow in our obedience and faith in Him. Pain can be a great teacher for that. Hardship is an excellent teacher for growth. Adversity is an expert trainer for maturity. Trials are God’s love disguised as pain so we may draw nearer to Him in faith and surrender. However, when God uses pain and trials, it does not always mean that we are sinful. Most of the times, God uses pain to open our eyes to a sin in our life or to a disobedience we did. At other times, He uses pain to enable us to gain wisdom, strength, and to grow in our faith. The point of the matter is that when we are in a difficult and painful situation, we should start asking ourself, “What is God teaching me in this situation?” When we are able to do that, when we learn what God teaches us, and when we start to obey God, then we start to change for the better. We start to live more for God. We become ready to give our focus to God. And the moment we give our life to God, surrendering all to Him, blessings come.

“My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Hebrews 12:5-6 (WEB)

When we experience the breaking process of God, it is also an opportunity to experience His healing. Don’t ever buy the idea that all God wants for us is a worry-free and pain-free life. It is not God’s design that we are trouble-free because we are not of this world and in this world we are sure to encounter troubles of different kinds. But we can be worry-resistant and fear-resistant when we put our trust in God. Why is God’s breaking of us a natural event in a Christian’s life? Because the breaking process is the time of peeling out things in our life that gets in the way in our obedience and faith in God. That painful knock of God and the pull of the Shepherd’s rod is the only way that can truly help a stubborn person see that there is absolutely nothing in this world that can truly satisfy him but God alone. Only through the difficult situation can we truly understand how great, mighty, loving, and faithful God is.

When Israel and Judah was so deep in their sin of idolatry and pride, God called them ro repentance. Yet, they refused to heed the call of God.

“Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.”

Hosea 6:1 (WEB)

Prophet Hosea called for God’s people to repent and return to God. He acknowledged that God’s hand of judgement upon them and the suffering they experienced were because of their sin. But the prophet also understood that God does not discipline for discipline’s sake. He did it because He love His people and He can heal them. When He wounded them for their sin, He will heal and bind up their wounds.

When we allow God to work in our suffering, we can experience His hand of healing. This is a life-changing experience. Listen to people talk who had been in an aweful and hopeless situation in life and came out strong and victorious and you will always hear God in their stories. When we experience God’s redemptive work in a personal level through the pains He allows to happen in our life, we fully realize who God is and what He can do. The process of breaking is a great opportunity for God’s healing. It is the one that points us to repentance and surrender to God. This is the way to new life.