The Dubno Magid zt'l told the following mashal:
The doctors in the hospital instructed the parents of a sick child to do everything they could to keep their child awake. They warned that if the child falls asleep within the next hour, he might never awaken, r'l. The parents spoke to their young child to keep him awake, but the child was tired, and his eyes were closing. The child's father took the pillow away from under the child's head and talked to him some more. It was uncomfortable for the child, but this helped him stay awake.
When he was about to fall asleep again, the father placed the child on the cold floor. The young child didn't understand why his father was doing this to him.
Even on the floor, the child began falling asleep again, so the father hit him. "Why is he hitting me?" the child thought. "Why does he want to torture me?" But it wasn’t torture, and it wasn't cruel. It was the greatest kindness. It was saving the child's life.
The Dubno Magid explains that one of the purposes of yesurim is to arouse us to teshuvah. The yesurim are wake-up calls that we should improve our ways. If we don't wake up, the yesurim might become more painful. It is Hashem's compassion, so we don't sleep in galus and forget our purpose in life.
