By Marni Montanez
1 Peter 5:10 English Standard Version
10. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
In this world suffering is taboo. Codependency and enabling are the new trigger words that describe yet another part of the dysfunction in our society. Everyone knows what “to suffer” means, and choose to avoid it by taking the easy way.
Many cannot bare to let loved ones experience any kind of discomfort so by enabling they sabotage those they love. Those who enable are literally not allowing the enabled to grow up.
God promises it will be difficult and He is very clear that we will suffer. This world is against Him and, as Christians, we are considered the enemy….why? Because we come with truth and the truth testifies against the world.
Our walk in Christ is dependent on leaning into God and trusting Him along the way of hard times. Our hard times are what purge us of any emotional or spiritual poison; it builds our spiritual muscles so that we can move forward with strength and it enhances or fortitude so that we will not collapse when the enemy attacks.
Suffering is not easy and God promises that each time we do suffer it will be short lived. This is a comforting thought.
God shows He has complete control of the situation at all times, and He proves this by giving us the grace we need to get through the dark times and gives us hope with the reassurance that He has a future planned for us. This plan involves restoration, confirming who we are in Christ, building our spiritual and emotional muscles in the suffering and establishing that we are His forever. This is a confident position to be in.
Unfortunately this does not happen without going through heavy things. God will not leave us orphans or victims to the world or the enemy.
Challenge: As you go through times of suffering, keep yourself centered in God by continuing to do all the things that are right and nourishing for your soul. lie back and listen to soaking worship music and allow the tears or pain to rise to the surface so that you and God could deal with it and let go of it.
God bless
Marni
Go on to: 1 Samuel 3:10 God Speaks
Return to: Food for Thought
Return to: Christian Living Articles
The
purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate,
and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through
Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your
God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or
crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the
standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for
the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not
Christian.