He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and for their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the multitude of His mercies. (Psalm 106:44-45)

As related in the previous devotion, God loves His people too much to let them continue down the road to destruction unchallenged. Unfortunately for us, sometimes His chastening is quite strict and very painful. Nevertheless, it is correction administered by a loving Father who only desires that His children abandon the way of wickedness. Underscoring His endless love for us is the fact that, even though we may find ourselves in distress stemming from His discipline, when we cry out for mercy, He hears us. Those who were held in Egyptian bondage were not necessarily righteous people; to the contrary, there is plenty of evidence to prove they were deeply entangled in the customs of their Egyptian masters, Still, when they cried out Him, He heard. As it is written, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people … and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7).

Over and again, the Bible reminds us that the Lord does, in fact, take note of the suffering of His people, even if He does not immediately intervene. To that point, it seems apparent that He allows them to remain in distress until they do acknowledge the error of their way and cry out to Him for mercy. It is written, “I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me” (Hosea 5:15).  Just as any loving parent would do when they hear pleas from their sorrowful children, He moves on our behalf to relieve us of our distress when we cry out to Him.

No one likes chastening, and especially when it is administered by the Almighty; suffice it to say, He knows how to get our attention like no one else can. There are times when His “rod of correction” are those who seek our destruction, although He allows them to go only so far. Some times, His way is to use those who love us so that we can see His displeasure through their disappointment and disapproval. There are myriad ways He gets His point across but, whatever it may be, let us never lose sight of the fact that He loves us — He’s for us and not against us, even when He allows us to linger in our distress. As it is written, “With him who has a contrite and humble spirit … I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry” (Isaiah 57:15-16). Amen.

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill