1 Peter 5:10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
My Thoughts
First God does not send suffering down on us... we live in this world and Satin has reign over this world. But God has reign over us when we are His children. God has reign over Satin. God's word just believed and spoken has reign over Satin himself. God just gives us the choice whether we want to love Him or not. So here we are living in this world where some people make the choice not to love God. And things happen...sometimes we are caught in the crossfire of those happenings.
The wonderful thing is that God loves to show off His love for us...and when we stand strong in Him through hard times, when we love God and depend on God in the mist of our suffering.. God get to show off to all the people that saw us stand strong in Him by restoring us... supporting us... strengthening us and placing us on a firm foundation.
James, Jesus' earthly brother... a man who knew Jesus from the day he was born tells in in Chapter 1:2-4 when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Here James tells us that each time we suffer and trust God through the suffering we grow stronger and stronger and strong. Each time we suffer and endure it is like building up the cement under our feet. We just keep getting a little closer to heaven.
It is much like that donkey that fell in the well.. the farmer had no way to get him out so he decided to bury him. The farmer kept pouring buckets of dirt down on the donkey... the donkey would shake off that dirt and stomp around... over and over the farmer would pour the dirt on the donkey....and the donkey would shake off the dirt and stomp it down... eventually the dirt that was suppose to bury the donkey rose him to the top of the well and the donkey was free.
When we believe in God, in Jesus.. we are like that farmer and that donkey... Satin may throw suffering and hard times on us to bury us so deep we can't call out...but when we use God's word, when we call out to God and depend on Him.. God puts Satin under our feet growing that cement stronger and higher and taller... and one day Satin will look and see that we have reached the glory of heaven. While all along the way God keeps restoring us, and supporting us and making us stronger.
In the mist of our suffering and struggles, even when it seems so hard... we can smile and say, "Devil, you are not getting me this time!! My God is greater, my God is stronger and my God is higher! In the end I will be restored.. with only a little suffering I will be stronger! God's victory is going to shine!" What a wonderful promise!!
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