In other articles in this issue of The Christian, we have seen that God disciplines and trains each of His children, often described in Scripture under the broad category of chastening. We have also seen that the word “chastening,” as it is used in the Word of God, embodies all of God’s ways with us, and not merely those things that are corrective or punitive. However, our reaction to God’s ways with us may be right or wrong.
It has often been said, and rightly so, that in this world there are wrong actions and wrong reactions, and that “two wrongs do not make a right.” While God’s ways with us are always perfect, He may on occasion involve a human instrument, or even Satan, to carry out His purposes. Then the ways and means of the action are not perfect and can easily provoke a wrong reaction in us. Sad to say, even true believers, if not walking with the Lord, can find fault, not only with the instrument, but also with God Himself, and react in a wrong way.
Justify God
First and foremost, then, it is most important to justify God in all His ways with us. He may on occasion allow very difficult circumstances in our lives, as He did with Job. But Job had to learn from the mouth of Elihu that the pathway to blessing was to justify God, and then, if necessary, to go to the Lord and say, “That which I see not teach Thou me” (Job 34:3232That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. (Job 34:32)). When Job eventually did this, he did indeed learn the value of chastening and got the blessing God intended for him.
Second, it is important not to look at the instrument the Lord may use. Everything man does is necessarily tainted with failure and may, in some cases, include a great deal of that which is not of God. Yet we are to take it from the Lord and learn from it. An older brother, under whose ministry I was privileged to sit as a teenager, made this remark many times: “If someone says something unkind to you or about you, do not look at the one who said it. Ask the Lord why He allowed it.” It was excellent advice. We hasten to say, however, that on the part of the one who says something unkind, acting in the flesh toward a fellow believer is always wrong. The Lord may well have to deal with those who do so. This was the case with Job’s three friends, yet God used them to bring out a side of Job that needed correction. It is significant that God did not “[turn] the captivity of Job” until he prayed for those same friends (Job 42:1010And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)); then they, in turn, had to go to Job and offer a sacrifice for speaking wrongly to him. However, we are not responsible for a wrong action toward us; we are responsible only for our reaction. How many dear saints have missed the blessing the Lord had for them in a time of chastening, because they focused on the wrong actions or wrong ways and means of those whom the Lord chose to use in the chastening. Let us look beyond the instrument and not fall into this snare.
Despising Chastening
There are three main reactions to chastening mentioned in the Word of God, all in Hebrews 12. The first one is, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord” (Heb. 12:55And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (Hebrews 12:5)). Unhappily, this is a common reaction, and a bad one. It has been rightly said that the natural man reacts to trouble of any kind either by becoming hardened or crushed. To despise chastening is to become hardened and to refuse to listen to the voice of the Lord. We see much of this in the world around us during the present COVID pandemic, as the difficulties drag on and the end of it seems elusive. While some seem to be coping reasonably well, very few seem to be acknowledging God’s voice to them. Most are hoping for a return to normal as soon as possible, so that they can get on with a worldly lifestyle. Others are becoming enraged, as “old hurts” and frustrations are brought to the surface, and the result is violence in every form.
Even true believers are not immune to this reaction. Among those who know the Lord, we surely expect to see more respect for the Lord’s ways with us, yet it is possible even for those with new life to despise the Lord’s training, and thus to miss the lesson the Lord has for them.
Fainting
The next reaction is in the same verse (Heb. 12:55And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (Hebrews 12:5)): “Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Here is the second reaction of the natural man — to be crushed under God’s hand and to faint. This is another common reaction among worldly people and is the result of wrong thoughts of God. When the natural man is brought into God’s presence and does not want to repent, often despair is the result. This was the case with Cain, who complained, “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Gen. 4:1313And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. (Genesis 4:13)). Yet there was no repentance or the acknowledging of God’s claims over him.
Likewise even a believer today can faint under God’s ways, although we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 10:1313There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) that “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” The word “faint” in this connection (as it is used in Hebrews 12:55And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: (Hebrews 12:5)) has the thought of giving up and is the opposite of having our “loins girded about.” The Lord knows what we are capable of bearing, and He does not impose that which is too hard for us. We have already mentioned Job, who suffered possibly more than almost any other man except our blessed Lord Jesus Himself. Job did indeed faint under it at times, but God did not allow any more than was needed to produce the right result. In the end it was well worth it!
Exercised Thereby
This brings us to the final reaction to chastening, and the right one: “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12:1111Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:11)). To be “exercised thereby” honors the Lord who sent the chastening, acknowledges His hand in it, justifies Him, and opens the door for Him to reveal to us the reason for it. I believe that this is what is implied, at least in part, in the expression, “God ... will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able to bear, but will with the temptation make the issue also, that ye should be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:11Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (1 Corinthians 10:1)3 JnD). “Making the issue” would suggest God’s showing us why He allowed the chastening, and thus we not only know that it will have an end, but also that it will be for our ultimate blessing.
It is a blessed experience to be in the school of God and to learn from Him things which have not only present benefit, but will have a lasting effect for all eternity. We have only this life to build for eternity; let us not waste the opportunity, by despising or fainting under God’s hand upon us.
W. J. Prost