Good morning Facebook Family Have a great Wednesday Love Always Pray Often God Bless. Getting Our Attention No one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. — Lamentations 3:31-33 In the much-loved Psalm 23, David wrote, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. The rod and the staff were shepherds tools. The staff was a long, crooked instrument the shepherd would use when a sheep was going astray. But the rod was simply a club that was used when the staff wasnt working anymore. We may think that a club is extremely cruel to use on a poor sheep. But better to get whacked with a club than eaten by a wolf! Sheep are incredibly dumb. They will actually line up to die. If one sheep goes over a cliff, the other sheep will say, Get in line. Were all going to die today. Lets go. Single file. The shepherd sometimes has to use extra corrective measures on a wayward sheep that could otherwise lead others astray. I have seen the Lord use the rod of suffering or sickness to get someones attention. He will say, You really shouldnt do that and then convicts them by His Spirit. But they might ignore Him. So He tells them, Dont do that. I dont want you to do that. If they continue to ignore Him, BAM! God will use His rod: I told you . . . dont do that. I have met a lot of people in hospitals who have come to Christ. Unfortunately, a lot of them dont stay with Christ. But others continue to walk with the Lord. Maybe God has recently whacked you with His rod to get your attention. Maybe He has given you a wake-up call in the form of suffering or sickness, and youve been wondering why. The book of Hebrews tells us, My dear child, dont shrug off Gods discipline, but dont be crushed by it either. Its the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects (12:5-6, MSG). Dont ever doubt it: if God has allowed hardship or suffering into your life for a season, it is because He loves you. Greg Laurie
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:17:55 +0000
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