Subject: Suffering and God's providence |
Bible Note: When I made that comment, my mind was not thinking of divine discipline but things like rape, murder, sickness, etc. Occasions where the Bible does show God inflicting these things or allowing it occurrence, it is due to judgment against sin. I was also thinking in terms of God not desiring, intending, or planning for his people to suffer in any way. Again, there basically is no argument against the idea of divine discipline per se. I can see two reasons for divine discipline: (1) to correct us for either sin or error in judgment, i.e. a purifying from, or (2) although one may already be blameless before God, God desires him to obtain more discernment and power for the task set before him, i.e. a purifying for. The suffering itself, from discipline or otherwise, is not the blessing; the good obtained is the blessing. I have no time to submit specific verses (except for Jer 29:11; Ps 91 and 103:1-6) but, for me, this is the whole tenor of the Bible. |