God's Chastening Makes Us Happy

Job 5:17-19 NKJV
"Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects;
Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
For He bruises, but He binds up;
He wounds, but His hands make you whole.
He shall deliver you in six troubles,
Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.

This passage reminds of the saying about the military: They break you down, so they can build up a soldier. God works the same way, sometimes. Many people have to hit rock-bottom before they'll accept help from God.

God has to correct us sometimes, when we do wrong. It's like with kids: when you see kids throwing a fit in the grocery store because they can't have candy, what happens? The kid who isn't corrected (parent doesn't make them stop) just goes on screaming and crying, but the kid who is corrected stops and starts to be on the right path again. If the behavior isn't stopped, it escalates. God knows this; he corrects us out of love.

He knows that if we are corrected, and then go to the right path, we'll be happier. So don't hate it when God corrects you, know that you'll be the better for it, and that He loves you.

Remember this, also: when He breaks you down, He'll build you back up with more faith and love than you started out with. You know that New Testament verse, tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope? (Romans 5:3-5). We learn from the bad times that we go through.

About that last verse... I think it's the same basic idea as the forgiveness verse in the conversation between Peter and Jesus, when Jesus said that we had to forgive people not seven times, not 70 times, but 7 times 70. Jesus probably didn't mean that you only had to forgive someone 490 times, and when they do whatever it is the 491st time, they're done. He means that we should always forgive our brother. This verse is the same way: He doesn't just save us six times, but every time we need him. The NLT version says: "In six disasters, He will rescue you; even in the seventh, He will keep you from evil." Every time we need Him, God will help us. Praise Him!

In His Service,
Joyce

Response Question: Why do you think the speaker chose the numbers six and seven?