God, and Our Suffering (Part 2 of 2)

God works in us through our suffering. My right response to suffering helps my maturity.

May 28, 2020

"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

1 Peter 5:10

Part 2

Yesterday:
“But the God of all grace.”
Our God is gracious, and He is the source of grace!

“Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus.”
By His grace, He has called us to glory by Christ’s gospel.

Today:
When are we ready for His “eternal glory?”
“After that, ye have suffered a while.”
Please do not ignore this statement.  If you do, and the earthly suffering begins to pile up, you will become very depressed and miserable in your Christian life.  You may even wonder if you are “saved,” or if God has forsaken you.  We know that God does not save us and then immediately transport us to heaven.  He saves us and leaves us on this earth to serve Him, and even to “suffer for a while.”  Believers, rejoice in that we are forgiven, and not ever forsaken by Him.  We are comforted, not concerned, for He is in control!  And please remember that all of our suffering here on earth is “Father filtered.”  The duration of our suffering is limited, it is only for “a while,” that is “a little while.”[1]

“Make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
Here is how our Father will use these suffering times for our benefit.

He will “make you perfect.”
With the affliction that we handle well comes more maturity in Christ.

He will “stablish” you.
Our suffering is designed to make us stable and set us firmly in place to make us immovable.  It helps to confirm in our minds what we believe about our God.

He will “strengthen” you.
Hardship is given to us to make us strong, to strengthen our souls, He gives to us what we need to handle these trials.  He is our strength.

He will “settle” you.
These worldly troubles are given to us to set us on a firm foundation.  Like the house “built on the rock” that could withstand the winds, the storms, and the floods.  Without the storms, we might forget that we need to stay on the Rock.

“We wish we were called to His eternal glory on the “no suffering” plan. But God uses suffering to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us”[2] (Guzik, emphasis his).

Dear believers, the more we suffer here, the better heaven looks!  The more substantial our hardship, the more resolute our faith in God becomes.  He loves us, and He entrusts us with the suffering that He brings us.  Let us handle it well for His glory.

 

 

 

[1] The Greek text uses the word “oligon.”  When used for time, this word means “short.”  When thinking of degree or intensity, it means “light,” or “slight.” (See Thayer.)
[2] Guzik, David. David Guzik’s Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.