Struck to be blessed and to be a blessing

I grew up to a lot of spankings when I was a kid.  Well, maybe not a lot, but a lot more than I want to remember. 

It was never very pleasant, but as I look back on it now, I’m thankful for the discipline that my dad brought into my life.  It’s definitely made me a better person.

God does the same thing with us.  He often brings discipline in our lives, not because he’s an angry God, but because he really wants to bring blessing into our lives.

For the first half of this chapter, we see God raining down judgment on Egypt, just as he did in Moses’ time.  But in the middle of the prophesy, the tone suddenly turns.

In that day, five cities in Egypt will…swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty…

When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender and he will rescue them. 

So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day, they will acknowledge the Lord…

The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them.  They will return to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.   (Isaiah 19:18, 20-22)

After that, God talks about how he would work in the lives of their oppressors, the Assyrians.  And he says of them and Egypt,

The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together.  In that day, Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 

The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”  (23-24)

It’s really amazing to me when I think about it.  Usually these kinds of words are said only of Israel.  But here, God shows that he embraces all who turn to him.

Yes, God will strike us when we sin.  But his desire is that we would turn to him that he might heal us. 

Not only that, he wants to bless us.  And he wants us to be a blessing on this earth to everyone that we touch.

Is God bringing discipline into your life right now?  Are things tough as a consequence of some sin in your life?  Then turn to God and repent. 

It’s not his desire to strike us; it’s his desire that we repent. 

It’s not his desire to curse us; it’s his desire to bless us. 

It’s not his desire that we be a curse to the people around us, but that we would be a blessing. 

So as the writer of Hebrews said,

Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.  (Hebrews 12:5-6)