Who hurts more?

“This hurts me more than it is going to hurt you.” How often has a parent said something like that when they are about to punish a son or daughter? If you’re a parent you have probably said it yourself.

As a child I for one can remember thinking to myself, “Well gee dad if it’s going to hurt you that much then lets just forget about the whole thing!” Yet now that I’m older and wiser with kids of my own I must confess that I have said and thought this many times. Why? It’s not because a spanking or any other form of discipline hurts me more than my kids; it’s because I am hurt by their disobedience.

Did you know that God has said as much to us as His children?

• [10] See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. [11] For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.
  Isaiah 48:10-11 (NIV)

Think about what God is really saying here. The first thing God tells us is that He knows punishment hurts us. God doesn’t just give us a spanking; God refines us in the fire. I know from experience that the furnace of affliction is hot and very uncomfortable, and God knows it too. “Child, I know this hurts.”

But God doesn’t stop there; the Lord goes on to say that it hurts Him more than it hurts us. Do you see it in what God said through Isaiah? Look at it again: “For my own sake, for my own sake I do this.” God disciplines us to teach us how to live a righteous and holy life, but His discipline is not just to teach us right from wrong. God said He takes us through the furnace of affliction for His benefit!

Notice what God said next: “How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” In other words, “It hurts me more than it does you.” God asks, “How can I continue to let you drag me through the mud; why should I continue to let you stab me in the back?”

Our sin hurts God, and the amazing thing is that His pain is greater than our spanking. Our willful disobedience is an attempt to rob God of His glory, to profane His holiness and make Him like us, and God won’t stand for it. His pain motivates Him to action and He disciplines us.

I don’t know what affliction or suffering you may be facing today, but have you asked yourself if it is because of your personal sin and disobedience? Is it God’s discipline to instruct you in righteousness? Can you hear God saying, “This hurts me more than it does you?”