✦ Lamentations 3 — Where This Journal Began
This journal opened with Lamentations 3:23 — His mercies are new every morning. The verse that has closed every conversation, every entry, every evening for ninety-nine devotionals. Tonight, James Smith brings another verse from the same chapter: Lamentations 3:33 — He does not afflict willingly. The same chapter. The same heart of God. The mercies that are new every morning — and the correction that never comes from caprice. Both live in Lamentations 3. Both are the character of the same Father. 🙏
Our afflictions do not flow from caprice, but from our Father's wisdom, holiness, and love.
He finds no pleasure in our pains, groans, and sighs. He is never hasty in using the rod. Mercy flies to help us, but He is slow to anger and of great kindness.
Slow to anger and of great kindness. I also had the privilege of being corrected by the Holy Spirit, for I was going the wrong way.
Had I not been corrected, I would be lost and unhappy. 🙏
Smith says the afflictions flow from wisdom, holiness, and love — never from caprice. And Le names the correction a privilege. Most people call correction punishment. Le calls it the mercy that saved her from the wrong road. The rod is mercy wearing a disguise. The soul that was corrected and turned is the soul that was loved enough to be stopped.
He never afflicts us without a sufficient cause: either sin has been committed; duties neglected; mercies slighted; lukewarmness tolerated; worldly-mindedness indulged; privileges abused; warnings despised; temptations trifled with; or danger is near.
✦ The Rod Is Never Random
Smith lists the causes — and not one of them is caprice. Every affliction has a reason. Sin committed. Duties neglected. Mercies slighted. Lukewarmness tolerated. Or danger is near. That last one changes everything — because it means the rod sometimes comes not because the soul has done something wrong but because the soul is heading toward something dangerous. The correction is preventive, not just corrective. The Father sees the cliff before the child does — and the rod pulls the child back before the fall.
At the time of the correction, I did not feel privileged. It is a time when you have to decide: am I serving myself or God? 🙏
Le names the moment of truth inside every correction: the decision is made in the pain, not after it. The correction arrives. The rod falls. And in that moment — not later, when the dust has settled and the purpose is visible — the soul must choose. Am I serving myself or God? The answer given in the pain determines the direction of the life. The soul that chooses God in the pain has turned. The soul that waits for the pain to pass before choosing — may never choose at all.
He never afflicts without a good and gracious intention: to make us fear, loathe, and flee from sin; to show His disapproval of our unholy course; to quicken us in His ways; to make us long for, seek, and partake of His holiness; to produce contrition and godly sorrow.
✦ David's Prayer from the Deepest Correction
Psalm 51 — David's prayer after the deepest correction of his life. Nathan the prophet came. The truth was spoken. The sin was exposed. And David did not defend himself. He did not argue. He did not blame. He prayed. Create in me a clean heart. Renew a steadfast spirit. Do not cast me away. Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
This is what correction produces in the soul that chooses God in the pain: not bitterness but prayer. Not resentment but longing. Not anger at the rod but gratitude for the hand that holds it. David's prayer is the proof that the correction worked — because the prayer would not exist without the pain that produced it. 🙏
He only afflicts partially, occasionally, and sparingly. He always strikes in love, and aims at our spiritual welfare.
We are often more benefited by afflictions than we are by comforts and joys.
✦ Always in Love
Smith closes with the truth that experience confirms: the afflictions often do more good than the comforts. The comforts warm. The afflictions shape. The joys encourage. The corrections redirect. And the soul that has been through both knows that the afflictions produced what the comforts could not.
And Smith's three words about the rod — partially, occasionally, and sparingly — reveal the restraint of the Father. He does not strike constantly. He does not afflict beyond what the soul can bear. The rod is measured. Nahum 1:12 — the verse that opened this journal — said it first: though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. The affliction has God-appointed limits. The rod is always in love. And the aim is always the soul's welfare — never the soul's destruction. 🙏
"At the time of the correction, I did not feel privileged. It is a time when you have to decide: am I serving myself or God?"
Le · Beauvoir, France · June 9, 2026 · The decision made in the painThe Privilege of Correction
Le calls the correction a privilege. Had she not been corrected, she would be lost. The rod is mercy wearing a disguise. The soul that was stopped was the soul that was loved.
Never Random
Every affliction has a cause — sin, neglect, lukewarmness, or danger near. Not one comes from caprice. The rod is purposeful. The correction is sometimes preventive, not just corrective.
The Decision in the Pain
Am I serving myself or God? The question is asked in the correction, not after it. The answer given in the pain determines the direction. The choosing happens in the fire.
Always in Love
Partially. Occasionally. Sparingly. He always strikes in love. The affliction has God-appointed limits. The aim is always welfare, never destruction. Nahum 1:12 holds.