6/30 Job 5:17-18

¹⁷ "Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. ¹⁸ For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.

Although Job's friends were wrong in their assumptions, there is truth in much of what they spoke. The first friend, Eliphaz, said that all men have sinned. He knew God was just. In our verses today we see that he knew God's discipline was a blessing. The hope of God's restoration came to fruition in Job. However, he did not understand that in some cases a person's afflictions are for purposes unseen. Eliphaz was wise, but he lacked discernment.

We are blessed when God reproves us. It is often to turn us back to the right path. It can be God's natural consequences or His supernatural intervention, but either way, we are being turned from our destructive ways or, as in Job's case, brought into a deeper relationship with our Creator. One thing did apply to Job. He despised these afflictions. You can hardly blame him, but still, it was a lack of trust in God.

God does wound and bind up. He does shatter and His hands heal. All things serve His purposes. No matter what our condition, we can know that God can deliver and restore us if it is for our good and His glory. Some believe it is always God's will to be physically whole, but that may not be what is best for us. If our affliction keeps us close to the Lord, and our healing would cause us to drift away, which is better?

Consider: God places a higher priority on our eternal state than our temporal condition.