Grace in the Suffering

Passage – You will have to suffer only a little while; after that, God, who is full of grace, the one who called you to his eternal glory in union with the Messiah, will himself restore, establish and strengthen you and make you firm. 1 Peter 5:10

Restate in my own words – Our suffering will eventually come to an end, because God who is full of Grace and who called us to glorify Christ eternally will restore, establish and strengthen us and make us firm.

Application to my life – This scripture has come across my reading plan twice this week and then today in my grace journey. What is God speaking to me through this verse?

I’ve been through a lot of suffering in my life. The loss of my best friend, the death my father going to jail, the impact that that had on my relationship with close friends, my virginity being lost through rape, a tainted reputation, broken relationships, the loss of both of my parents are just a few of the sufferings I have experienced.

In the moments surrounding those suffering, I felt the pain would last forever. But God in His grace took that suffering and restored me. He brought healing to that pain. He used my suffering to establish me as a helper of others who have bore the same type of suffering to help them with their journey. God strengthened me through the suffering so that I could learn and give the load to Him in further struggles. He helped me learn to not take on others burdens that I am walking with. I am thankful that through it all He has strengthened my faith so that I can stand firm in Him.

Your response back to God – Lord sometimes it is easy to fail to see Your hand in the moment of suffering, but I thank You for giving me eyes to see it as I look back. I thank You that my faith and that foundation has been built on Your faithfulness. Thank You for Your grace that it sustains me, carries me and empowers me and that with You all things are possible.