Unavoidable

"After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." -1 Peter 5.10

1 Peter 5.10 begins with a reality check, suffering is unavoidable. The verse begins "After you have suffered". It doesn't say "If", but "After", stating that there is no escape of suffering. We will all face difficult times that cause pain, hardship, anxiety, stress, and fear. Suffering is part of living in a fallen world, however, suffering is not the end. The same verse that begins with a message of discouragement, ends with hope.

The closing words point out the suffering is not eternal, "for a little while". These four simple words present the reader with a message of hope. Suffering does not last forever. Suffering is only temporary for the believer, and that final word is key. For those who humbly live before God, the sufferings of this life, even if they last decades, are only temporary, and will one day end forever. That is part of the hope of the Gospel.

We are going to suffer, but suffering will not last forever. It will be intense, and it will feel like it will never end, but it does, and life goes on. Wounds heal into scars, broken bones are mended, and tears stop falling. Suffering has its day, but that day comes to an end.

There is a song by Mark Schultz that says:

The lame will walk
The blind will see
The prisoners will be set free
And hope will rise as shadows disappear
And all that’s lost
We’ll find again
Death will die and tears will end
And we will come alive and truly live

Death will die. Tears will end. We will come alive and truly life. Suffering is unavoidable, but suffering is temporary. In that we can have hope.


Fight the lion, 1 Peter 5.1-11

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!