Faint Not — Part 2
“My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him” (Hebrews 12:5).
Here is another reason why the child of God often faints.
When the Lord allows circumstances in our life to correct us because of waywardness, or out and out disobedience, how to we respond? To “despise…the chastening of the Lord,” is to grit our teeth, steel ourselves against it, and be convinced that this is just the kind of thing that happens to everyone now and then. In this way we don’t learn the lesson, nor do we accept the circumstance from His good and loving hand, and the end result is that we faint or give up under the rebuke.
The blessing from chastening only comes from accepting it as necessary, and learning what is in it for our good and blessing. “Now 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). It is not that chastening is pleasant or enjoyable, but when we have learned the lesson, the result is invaluable, and we avoid spiritual fainting.
