The Blessings of Beatings

No one, when they are in the midst of a beating, enjoys it. Such doesn’t undo the truth that beatings are blessings. They are among that list of gifts from our Father, all of which are good and perfect. What are they? Hardships, which can come via verbal rebuke, physical pain, humiliations, all of which, for the believer, trace back to the loving hand of our heavenly Father. Here are five reasons such are blessings.

1. They remind us that God is active in our lives, and bringing to pass His good will for us. The author of Hebrews writes, “If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons” (12: 7, 8). Our response should be one of gratitude. Our Father loves us.
2. They drive us to Him. Doctors say that pain is a kind of alarm system letting us know something isn’t right. True enough, but it’s also an alarm system calling us to prayer, and to Him. How easy it is to forget Him when all is well, to grow complacent and self-satisfied. Paul’s thorn in his flesh worked just in this way, which is precisely why God determined not to take it away despite the earnestness of Paul’s prayers.
3. They can soften us. It’s true that hardships can also make us hard. When we are in pain we might be given to short tempers, to being easily agitated. We might also, however, be given to deeper tenderness. We reach out to others because we don’t want to be alone. We seek comfort, and so speak comfort to others. They weary us such that our defenses come down and we embrace a vulnerability that cultivates connection.
4. They encourage a long-term view, and a longing for THE view. When we are in the midst of hardship it makes perfect sense that our minds and hearts would turn to what lies ahead, a place where there are no more hardships, no more tears. We are not only headed for paradise, but are headed for eternity there. This is why Paul writes, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17). There we will enjoy what God’s people call “the beatific vision.” We will see the very face of God. Anything that encourages us to contemplate that glory is a blessing.
5. They cultivate in us compassion for others. Or, to put it another way, they remake us into the image of Christ. He is a man well acquainted with sorrows and if we would be like Him, so must we be. We need to be able to say in all our hardships, “This hurts so much is must be good for me.”

The Bible, on more than one occasion, calls upon us to give thanks to God for our hardships. When our passion is not comfort but that we would be like Jesus, we do so naturally, easily, earnestly. Lord, teach us to count our beatings, count them one by one, and teach us to count them blessings.