The God Who Wounds

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.  For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal. ... Then Job replied: 'If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!  It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas - no wonder my words have been impetuous.'"  (Job 5:17-18, 6:1-3)

We've all suffered wounds from God.  We'd prefer never to know pain at His hands, but the Bible gives us no such promise.  What we are promised is comforting, but much less relaxing than what we'd like to hear.  We want a god who will always give us what we want and will never teach us hard lessons.  We want to be conformed to the image of Jesus without the chisel that shapes us.  But God's hand, though always good, isn't always easy.  He takes us through not only joys and comfort, but also pain.  A quick survey of Scripture should be enough to convince us.  Just ask Job - or Abraham, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, John the disciple, Peter, Paul, Stephen, or any other character God used.  The godly life is joyful but painful.

Or we could just ask our living Lord.  That sacred head once wounded has a testimony for us: Those who worship God yet live in this world will be traumatized by the contradictions between the two.  Count on it.  And it isn't just an unfortunate spiritual dynamic; the God we worship has ordained it.  Whether for correction or character, it's from Him.

Is that unsettling?  Don't worry; His wounds are never deeper than they must be, and never beyond His ability to heal.  In fact, He has promised to heal them.  But we must have them if He is to shape us.  There's no way we can be like Jesus and yet wear no scars in this world.

Did we think the Christian life was going to be without pain?  No.  Look at Jesus.  Look at His disciples.  Look at two thousand years of church history.  Or, closer to home, look at the headlines.  The crucified Lord has a crucified church.  It's the only path to resurrection.

No, the Christian life is by no means without pain.  It can't be, not if it's real and if it exists in a hostile world.  And not if we're going to be like Jesus.  But neither is it without comfort and healing.  That's why we can worship the God who wounds as well as the God who restores.  He knows what He is doing; He is preparing us for glory.

"No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown."  - William Penn