10-27-13 An Eagle Named Humpty

Job 5:17-18

“ Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;

therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.

For he wounds, but he binds up;

he shatters, but his hands heal.

I read this Lord’s Day that I am not to despise the discipline of the Almighty. This means that my family is not to become loathsome, bitter, angry, or to melt away from this season of suffering. Instead, we are to be happy and feel blessed. Seems kind of strange doesn’t it?

He has surely wounded and shattered us these past couple of days; yet he has done it with purpose. He intends to bind up our wounds and put back together what he has shattered. Why do it then? If he would just fix what he broke then what really is the point?

I find comfort in learning that when God binds up what he breaks, he makes it stronger.

Isaiah 30:26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.

I understand this may be talking about the ultimate healing of God’s people when he brings them to heaven where there is no more crying, pain or suffering; this is the ultimate place of binding. But we can learn that God is a God who loves to make what he broke stronger by seven-fold. This does not indicate to me that God will make my family weaker because we are broken, but rather seven times as strong. This indeed brings joy and happiness into my soul.

Understanding that God is sovereign over all suffering brings me comfort as well. I would be in despair and probably bitter if I believed that this suffering was either the work of the Devil, or just plain bum luck from a fallen creation. Where would the purpose be then? We learn by reading Job that the Devil can indeed have incredible power. But more than that, we learn that whatever things the Devil may do, they are allowed by God. God issues the Devil a permit to wound so that he can bind seven times stronger. This brings glory my God who has shattered my little family.

I love you Lord and thank you for another day!

The Lord doesn’t just put Humpty Dumpty back together again, he turns that broken egg into a soaring eagle! Praise the Lord!