When the believer is smarting under the rod let him not say, "God is now punishing me for my sins!" That can never be. That is most dishonoring to the blood of Christ. God is correcting you in love, not smiting in wrath. Nor should the Christian regard the chastening of the Lord as a sort of necessary evil to which he must bow as submissively as possible. No, it proceeds from God's goodness and faithfulness, and is one of the greatest blessings for which we have to thank Him.
Chastisement evidences our Divine sonship. The father of a family does not concern himself with those on the outside but those within he guides and disciplines to make them conform to his will. Chastisement is designed for our good, to promote our highest interests. Look beyond the rod, to the all-wise hand that wields it!
Let us not conclude when we see a fellow-Christian under the rod of God, that he is necessarily being taken to task for his sins.
Oftentimes God's chastenings are corrective. They are sent to empty us of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. They are given to reveal to us hidden transgressions, and to teach us the plague of our own hearts.
Or again, chastisements are sent to strengthen our faith, to raise us to higher levels of Christian experience, and to bring us into a condition of usefulness.
Still again, divine chastisement is sent as a preventative, to hinder pride, to save us from being unduly elated over success in God's service.
[A. W. Pink]
Hebrews 12:11 … Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
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