It was my opinion that he should have just done as I said and slept it off. As it turned out he crept through his bedroom window and leapt from the roof of the front porch onto the drought-baked ground of the front yard and did much damage to his foot. The doctor at the emergency room described the injury in technical terms saying it was seriously “jacked up.” It was easy to explain and prove the process from a bad idea to the predictable consequences later when in a cast his foot is uncomfortably elevated above his heart. My preference has always been to promote sound choices now so that bad consequences could be avoided afterward. More often than not I have to avoid the temptation of saying, “I told you this would happen.” The Bible says that ignorance is bound in the heart of a child. What is it that frees a person from the bonds of ignorance? The Bible goes on to say that the rod of correction will drive it far away. The rod may be extended and used to tap a shoulder to gain attention. The rod may be used to provide a nudge as one’s course begins to stray out of bounds. Some people ignore the tapping rod or irritably swat the nudging rod away. But the rod also has another use. In the hands of the user it can be swung. The swinging rod will involve pain and immobilization when the blow is landed. I’m watching now and formulating an opinion of what the result will be from the rod that was used on that foot.

Some people say that the “rod” passage is God’s stamp of approval for spanking children who misbehave. That may be true…..I don’t know. I know that a thoughtful person would never be satisfied with children that were just well-behaved. I’m not sure that anyone would characterize any of my children as “well-behaved.” I suppose the point I’m trying to make is that if the correcting rod is in my hand then the very best I can hope for or achieve is well-behaved children. I have no power over the heart of another. Maybe the rod spoken of in Proverbs is in God’s hand and I am the child. The rod is how God changes me, changes my heart. Sometimes I am tapped on the shoulder with it. Sometimes I am nudged back into line with it. Other times…..other times I am immobilized by it. As I examine my circumstances or lament my poor judgement, the rod is extended towards me. It is not extended to inflict more pain but to pull me from the pit. Do I reach for the life-saving rod or do I retreat further into my misery?

Some see the rod as God’s retribution or punishment for bad behavior. What their heart hasn’t yet seen is that the penalty for behaving badly…..has already been borne by another. If the penalty for my poor choices has already been paid, then why is my back broken….why has my marriage failed…..why am I pregnant…..why is my foot broken….why is my heart in pieces? There’s a difference between the natural consequences of a bad choice and the penalty for choosing poorly. Sometimes God reaches into a righteous life and disrupts the status quo to begin the process of growth and change. Difficult circumstances and living through the consequences of poor choices are the kinds of things God uses to bring about restoration, reconciliation, and redemption.

Imagine a man on his knees before God. God has his hand firmly fixed on this man’s head. The man can’t move because the hand of God keeps him on his knees. I look into the lives of my children and I helplessly pray for restoration, reconciliation, and redemption. God answers with broken bones….broken lives….and an unplanned little baby girl. I squirm beneath the hand of God. I suppose some would see just and righteous punishment for bad behavior from the hand of a vindictive God. I don’t see it that way at all. These are the ways God loves us…how he calls us home.

The other day my youngest daughter gave birth to a baby girl. She was unplanned and unexpected. If redemption has a face, I have seen it. If redemption has a name, I know it. Redemption weighs 6 lbs and 1 oz and is 19.5 inches long. She is not how God has punished my daughter for her choices. She is the person God will use to rescue her. Will my daughter reach for the life-saving rod of God’s comfort……or not? On my knees I continue to squirm under the hand of God.

I wonder what happens next week.