I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. (Ps. 119:75)
BRIGHT ORANGE CRAYON markings cover the white walls in the dining room. An entire roll of toilet paper has been unraveled and shoved into the toilet. A box of Cheerios lies overturned on the kitchen floor. Sarah took her eyes off her three-year-old son for only two minutes so she could make a quick phone call. In those two minutes the house became a disaster zone. Sarah searched for her little boy, and when she found him, she put him in the designated time-out chair in the dining room corner. He kicked and screamed. His small hands reached out for her, while the tears fell from his eyes. He didn’t understand why he was suffering.
Sarah wasn’t punishing her son for no reason; she wanted him to make right decisions on his own. The psalmist wrote, “I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Ps. 119:75). If we sin, God does not pour out His wrath from heaven or put us in a time-out chair, but He does allow us to experience the painful consequences of our actions. He wants us to have a pure and blameless heart. The goal of our painful experiences is to restore the joy of obeying the Lord.
Out of your mistakes and pain cultivate a closer fellowship with God.
Amy Knepp is a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University and is a stay-at-home mother of four children.
