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)
"When we are suffering, we feel as though our pain will never end. Peter shows these faithful Christians the wider perspective. In comparison with eternity, their suffering would last only "a while". Some of Peter's readers would be strengthened and delivered in their own lifetimes. Others would be released from their suffering through death. All of God's faithful followers are assured of an eternal life with Christ where there will be no suffering. (LASB)"
If you take the time to listen to the promises of God, you know that we were never promised an easy road, we were only promised it would be worth it. A few years back, I was confronted with the statement "Where was God on 9/11 - why did He let that happen?" We could say the same for every tragedy that crosses our path. Why does God allow bad things to happen...there are far too many books on the market that attempt to answer that question and there are an equal number of opinions. We need only go back to Genesis and read 1:31 - "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."
In Peter's verse today, we are reminded that we will encounter hardships, there will be suffering, there will be pain. We are also reminded that faith in God, belief in the empty grave, produces in us the strength to endure! When all is said and done, when the last war on earth has been fought, when Jesus returns - we will be held...
"When we are suffering, we feel as though our pain will never end. Peter shows these faithful Christians the wider perspective. In comparison with eternity, their suffering would last only "a while". Some of Peter's readers would be strengthened and delivered in their own lifetimes. Others would be released from their suffering through death. All of God's faithful followers are assured of an eternal life with Christ where there will be no suffering. (LASB)"
If you take the time to listen to the promises of God, you know that we were never promised an easy road, we were only promised it would be worth it. A few years back, I was confronted with the statement "Where was God on 9/11 - why did He let that happen?" We could say the same for every tragedy that crosses our path. Why does God allow bad things to happen...there are far too many books on the market that attempt to answer that question and there are an equal number of opinions. We need only go back to Genesis and read 1:31 - "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."
In Peter's verse today, we are reminded that we will encounter hardships, there will be suffering, there will be pain. We are also reminded that faith in God, belief in the empty grave, produces in us the strength to endure! When all is said and done, when the last war on earth has been fought, when Jesus returns - we will be held...
