“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
The Lord corrected me.
But in that moment of correction came much clarity, and it picked me up and placed me into a better frame of mind. Shifted my perspective.
I’m thankful for that.
When our Father corrects us, He does it because He loves us. When we receive HIS correction, we can always sense that love is the basis of that correction. His love stands out and will lead us to a better place.
But in that moment of correction from the Lord, I could see, very clearly, a “fork in the road”…
The choice was easy for me, but in that moment I experienced a temptation to take the other path –the wrong side of the fork. I could see how many could end up taking this path of shame, resentment, offense and allow the sting of the correction to lead them instead of continuing to follow the Lord. I’ve surely let these things take me off the path before.
In reference to Proverbs 3:11-12 in my study bible it says, “To ask God to refrain from giving us correction would be to ask Him to love us less (Job 7:17-19, 10:10)
WOW. As sons and daughters, we’ve got to have a deep understanding of this so that when the Lord corrects us, we’re able to just thank Him for it, repent, and keep moving forward. My goodness, this is crucial!
When I was a kid in school, do you know what I did to avoid the embarrassment and things associated with correction? I shut down. I didn’t speak a word all day in attempt to avoid it all together. Can’t do that either. It’s just part of being a daughter.
Do you know what’s on the path just ahead of the right choice of response?
Clarity. Feeling loved. Refreshed and renewed. Strength. Health. Wisdom.
Proverbs 3:13 continues on to say,
“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding…”
Our Father truly knows what’s best for us, and the basis for His message is love. This love revives us and helps us in ways far deeper than we can understand.
–Heather