Spiritual spanking in progress?

I was talking to someone recently who was suffering over a sin they'd committed. And I mean REALLY suffering. The guilt and shame were so heavy on this precious child of God that it made me think of a verse in Lamentations that I have underlined: I am a [woman] who has seen the suffering that comes from the rod of the Lord's anger (3:1, emphasis mine). 

Sound familiar to anyone? Well this passage is underlined in MY Bible because it is very familiar to me. I suffer different levels of emotional, spiritual AND physical pain due to my own sin. All believers do.  Why? Because we'll never be rid of personal sin this side of heaven...and God knows that. But take heart. Here's how he handles things:

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t give up when he corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    and he trains each one he accepts as his child.”

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. Hebrews 12:5-11

Need I say more? When willful sin consumes you, God will treat you as the child of his that you are and, once you comply to his discipline, he will cause a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

(Note: The above promises are only available for believers in Jesus Christ. Sadly, those who are presently rejecting him are on their own in this department).