The Merciful Discipline of the Lord

We don’t like to talk about the punishments of God. In a world of scripted Bible verses on water-colored backgrounds, verses that reveal punishment, pain, and death do not seem as appealing. We’d rather  focus on God’s goodness and his love for his children. We hang on to phrases like “the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and his mercies are new every morning” (Lam 3:21). Yet, we often forget that this very verse sits in some of the darkest pages of punishment in the Bible. If we know it’s true that all of Scripture is useful (2 Tim 3:16), could it be even these difficult passages have important truth to learn? We don’t have to nervously skip over the punishments of God, fearing the questions the accounts may stir. In fact, it’s when we look closer at these hard truths  we can see the beauty of his love even clearer. These punishments are in fact severe mercies.

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