28 Days of Gratitude: Day 9
“Why should the living complain when punished for their sins? Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:39-40 NIV)
These are the words of the writer of the book of Lamentations, and some scholars attribute them to Jeremiah, known as “The Weeping Prophet.”
He was talking to Judah during a period in history when they were in bondage to Babylon. God had allowed their captors to destroy their beloved homeland, Jerusalem, as well as Solomon’s temple. Judah complained about the consequences of their idolatrous sin, but God had warned them of judgment in advance. The writer told them not to complain about the punishment, but simply correct the behavior.
GOD IS A LOVING FATHER
Have you ever had to discipline a child you love very much in order to correct a bad behavior? If so, you probably can remember the sadness in the child’s eyes when you chastised them.
Although you didn’t want to see them cry, you had to teach them right from wrong and keep them from being spoiled rotten, right? God forbid they hurt themselves or others because you tried to spare their feelings! A good parent disciplines and corrects when necessary.
God, our loving Father, doesn’t want to see us crying and hurting either, but He knows that divine discipline is necessary. It helps us avoid hurting ourselves, hurting others, or going down the wrong path.
When we mess up, God lets us feel the consequences of a bad choice. The Holy Spirit will convict us. We may lose our peace or joy. We might go through an extended testing period. God might withhold a blessing or an answer until we’re in a good position to receive it. All these things, as unpleasant as they are, work for our betterment.
If you, a mere human, won’t let a child stick their finger into a socket, touch a hot stove, run into traffic, scratch, bite, and kick others, would God, our loving Father, ignore our missteps?
Of course not. What kind of Father would He be if He did?
CAN YOU BE GRATEFUL FOR CORRECTION?
Is God angry when He corrects us? And since discipline and correction feel awful, can you actually be grateful and not complain? How do you do that?
First, Hebrews 12:6 CEV tells us plainly, “The Lord corrects the people he loves and disciplines those he calls his own." Being chastised means that you belong to God and you are His beloved child.
Second, don’t think God is mad at you, lashing out, and unleashing His wrath when you go through trouble. Jesus satisfied the wrath of God when He shed His blood on Calvary and paid the full price for our wrongdoing. Through our faith in Jesus, we are made righteous, and all our sins are forgiven (See Romans 5:1). And even when we mess up, according to 1 John 2:1, Jesus advocates for us, and God forgives us over and over again. That’s good news!
To reiterate, God’s discipline and correction are tied to His desire to see us do and be better. He allows us to go through hardships and struggles to get us on the right track, to teach us right from wrong, to build virtue in us, and to keep us from being spoiled rotten.
When you understand this, you can express gratitude as the psalmist did when he wrote in Psalm 119:71, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” Affliction is God’s tool of discipline to teach us His ways.
CAN YOU SEE GOD’S MERCY AT WORK?
Can you see God’s mercy at work in your life despite some of your wrong choices and missteps?
Have you ever done anything that you regret, but God still loved you and forgave you? Have you ever committed a sin and could have suffered worse consequences, but God still covered you and didn’t give you what you deserved? What could have utterly destroyed you but didn’t? What bondage could have kept you trapped forever, but God set you free?
Amazingly, though Judah was having a pretty tough time, the writer of Lamentations penned two of the most beautiful and frequently quoted Bible verses in Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV: “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
That word consumed is the Hebrew word tamam (pronounced taw-mam'), that means to be finished— in the sense of coming to an end or ceasing to exist at all. The writer was saying, had it not been for the Lord, Judah would have been finished, utterly destroyed, and would have ceased to exist. It was only by God’s amazing grace and unfailing mercy that they were spared at all.
That tells us, when God discipline us, He is consistently compassionate and faithful. There is a brand new mercy waiting for us every day! That’s an incredible reason to be grateful, don’t you think?
Unfortunately, if you focus on the unpleasantness of the discipline, your gripes will overshadow God’s mercies. Your complaints will blind you to the fact that the trial, the trouble, or the test is your teacher, and it will make your life infinitely better, if you submit to the process.
If you are ever feeling ungrateful as God takes you through a course-correcting season of discipline, ask yourself this question: where would I be were it not for God’s grace?
YOUR JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT
In your journal today, write down:
5 different times when you stumbled in some way, and God helped you get it together. It doesn’t have to be sin, or it could be. Just think about the ways that God has guided you, forgiven you, instructed you, matured you, and lovingly disciplined you.
Now, let’s pray.
God, thank You for the things You allow me to go through. Even though some tests are hard, I know they are molding me into Your image. Please help me to see Your love and mercy shining through my darkest times of testing. Thank You for reminding me that You love me and are faithful to give me brand new mercies every day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you desire prayer, please allow me, along with my intercessory prayer team, to stand in faith with you for breakthrough. We would be so honored. We have seen God work over and over again. There is power in agreement. Click here to request prayer now.
As always, thanks for reading and until next time... may today's cup of inspiration uplift, encourage, and empower you!
What Is the 28 Days of Gratitude Series Based On?
This gratitude series is based on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT, which says, “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
In my time spent with the Lord, He dealt with me about how we have a tendency to focus on our issues, problems, challenges, and difficulties, but we are not necessarily intentional about focusing on His goodness. Failing to meditate on His works forces us into a cycle of complaining and blinds us to the amazing ways He reveals Himself on a daily basis. In all circumstances, let us be more grateful.
What do I need to participate?
To participate in this series, you will need a notebook and a journal, because it requires writing some things down. In whatever journal you choose—and it doesn’t need to be anything fancy—daily, you will write down the Scripture of the day.
The featured verse will highlight a complaint from the Bible to help you see that, throughout history, others have struggled just as you do. Yet, God desires that we be grateful. In your journal, I would ask that you write the verse you see featured on the Daily Cup blog each morning, then jot down 5 things for which you are grateful.
5 is the number of grace, so you will be focusing on the grace of God and how His mercy has been evident in your life, even during rough times. At the end of each post, 5 suggested thing to write about are listed.
