Your Father Delights In You

"My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest his correction; for whom the Lord loves he corrects, just as a father the son in whom he DELIGHTS." Proverbs 3:11-12 A good parent closely guides his/her child, always watching to apply correction when needed, not in anger or hostility, but as a caring parent who wants his child to grow in maturity. God doesn't leave us as babes, and when a person is just coasting along God will apply pressure where needed to bring the believer out of complacency and up to a higher level of maturity. The believer's response therefore should be to give the Lord his/her full attention and to surrender and cooperate fully in order to grow. "If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." Hebrews 12:7-8 Just as the child respected his father who corrected him, how much more should we give respect and cooperation to our heavenly Father who applies needed correction? vs 9: "Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?" Our earthly parent may have chastened us in anger or frustration, but our heavenly Father applies only the correction needed for growth. His chastening is from a heart of love for his child, not from anger - but he loves his child too much to leave him as he is. v 10: "For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but he for our PROFIT, that we may be partakers of his holiness." The Lord always, in any chastening, has a specific goal, a specific purpose. He doesn't act in anger or frustration toward us, but with the love of God and the wisdom of God seeking only to train his child in righteousness. He hopes the child will not react in anger or self-will or rebellion; his desire is that the child cooperate in order to grow up. vs 11: "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Let the son or daughter therefore surrender his heart to his loving, caring Father and cooperate fully with the One who loves him more than anyone else in this world loves him. Let him take a right attitude and refuse to react incorrectly in anger or rebellion. The end result will be beautiful; indeed anyone who weathers God's correction with a right attitude will later rejoice in the growth he will see in himself as the Lord leads him into healing and deliverance and correction and transformation - all that is necessary for health and maturity. vs 12: "Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." If a person has had a harsh and unfair earthly father, oftentimes he becomes angry and rebellious. It may be difficult for him therefore to believe that his heavenly Father would never be as his earthly father was. Take the first step then, and choose to believe what God has said about himself. He is not unfair, he is not chastening his son or daughter with anything but love for his child. Believers need to separate in their minds the wrong idea they have of God that they developed if their earthly father was not a good father. It has to be a choice, because our emotions have been trained wrongly at the hands of human, fallen, parents. The only way one can come to understand that God is not like his earthly father is to immerse himself in the Word of God daily to relearn what a good father really is. Slowly but surely if he abides in the Word of God, he will come to understand, to relearn, that above all things, God loves him, that he truly desires his best, and that he will apply only the corrections needed, and that even when correction is needed, it will only be applied in love. God does not abandon us in our trials. Indeed, our greatest blessings can come out of our worst trials. When a son or daughter of God adopts the right attitude, he will come to learn that God delights in him. That may be hard to believe while going through a tough time, but it's true - your heavenly Father delights in you. Receive his loving correction therefore, and let him bring you to maturity. Your heavenly Father was content with the relationship he had with you while you were a babe, but he desires the far deeper relationship one has with a maturing son or daughter. That is his goal; receive it therefore, and let him grow you up knowing that truly, truly - your heavenly Father delights in you. "...for whom the Lord loves he corrects, just as a father the son in whom he DELIGHTS." Proverbs 3:12