Daily Devotions
Do You Need to Take a Look in the Mirror
Reading for December 18th: Hebrews 1-6
Weekly reading for December 13-19: Revelation 6-11
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21
The life of Job teaches us that not all suffering is the result of sin, contrary to Job's friends who tried to convince him otherwise. The righteous are not shielded from all suffering in this world. In fact, sometimes the righteous suffer BECAUSE they are righteous (Matt 5:10; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Pet 4:16).
However, let's not go to the opposite extreme and say that suffering is NEVER the result of sin. That's just not so. There are too many examples in the Bible to the contrary (2 Chron 33:10-13; Jn 5:14; Rev 2:22). God uses pain to get our attention. Like a father who loves his children, our heavenly Father uses discipline to break our stubborn will and bring us to repentance (Prov 3:11-12; Rev 3:19-20).
Unfortunately, instead of bringing us to repentance, often God's discipline has the opposite effect. Instead of getting mad at ourselves, we get mad at God. We grow hardened against him, and THIS MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL! We're the ones who rebelled against God! All God did was fill our lives with good gifts and we threw it all away (relationships, health, employment, etc) because we were intent on doing things our way! And then when we finally reap what we've sown, we shake our fists at God in anger and refuse to humbly accept his chastening and turn back to him! That's pure insanity!
So, if you're suffering right now I'll repeat what I said at the beginning: your pain is not necessarily the result of your own personal sin. However, it would be foolish for us to not take inventory of our life when we're experiencing the natural consequences of sin. Should you be taking a look in the mirror right now?
Father, thank you for loving us enough to chasten us when we're sinning. Break our stubborn will! Humble us and bring us to our knees! Help us to see our faults and repent.
