Dealing with adversity can be one of the biggest challenges we all face. Suffering happens to us all. We want to avoid it, but it shows up in our lives far too often. How does the follower of Jesus Christ deal with this uncomfortable reality? What are the resources God has given us?
There is a beautiful and powerful promise in 1 Peter 5:6-11 that speaks to this need. In these verses, we find three declarations from God about the problem of pain:
- God tells us that He is at work in our lives.
- He warns us that we should not let the devil derail our lives.
- The bold assertion is that God’s grace will restore our lives.
God is at work in your life. (1 Peter 5:6-7)
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.”
Dealing with suffering requires that we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. God has his hand on us all the time. He is at work in every believer’s life, but it is challenging to continue trusting him when his hand brings pain. We must humble ourselves. We naturally resist suffering. But when God has his hand on us, it is for our good. We humble ourselves by killing our pride, knowing that we need God’s work in our lives to give strength and maturity to our faith. Suffering is the best way God helps us grow in the Christian life. Like a sculptor with a hammer and chisel in hand, God removes the excess “stone” from our lives through pain.
Humbling ourselves is just the beginning. We must next cast all our cares on him. But what does it mean to cast all our cares on him? Picture yourself with a very heavy burden on your back. You can hardly carry it. You feel as if you’ll fall at any moment. Then, someone comes up to you and says, “Give that burden to me. I can carry it for you.” He comes beside you, and you roll that burden on him. It feels so good to get that weight off your back. You thank him profusely! It is such a joy and relief to be free of the burden. That is what Jesus does when we carry the burdens of adversity. He tells us to give it to him. He can carry it. To refuse to give it to him would be foolish. We give it to him by faith. But why would Jesus want to carry our load for us? Because he cares for us. He really does care for us! He’s doing a work in our lives to help us trust him more and more.
Don’t let the devil derail your life. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being accomplished by your brotherhood in the world.”
God is at work in your life, but there is someone who is opposed to that work. It is the devil. Therefore, we must be sober-minded and watchful. These two words refer to an intense focus, an alertness that knows something. What we know is that the devil is active and powerful in the world, and we are no match for him. So, being watchful is critical to our spiritual health. It is a command of God that far too many believers neglect.
The devil is described as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He is hungry, and we are his prey. How is the devil like a lion? Lions are stealthy and strong. The devil is also stealthy and strong. He is deceptive in his schemes and his actions against the people of God. We are easy targets for his schemes because we are often more in tune with the world’s thinking and desires than God’s. Another way the devil is like a lion is that lions often prey on the weak. The devil will prey on our weaknesses. You can bet he knows what they are. Like a lion, he wants to devour us by leading us astray from God. He uses deception to distract us and disorient us.
Like a lion, the devil is stealthy and strong, but there is a way to defeat him through God’s power and grace. We find here in verse nine that we are commanded to resist him firm in the faith. When we are wise to his tactics, we can more readily resist him. Being oriented to God’s plan and his ways by the word of God and the Holy Spirit, we will not become distracted and disoriented and so be led astray. The word faith here means not only the exercise of faith but also the content of our faith. The content of our faith is the truth of Holy Scripture. And in this, we know that we have solidarity with other believers in Jesus Christ that experience the same things. We are a community of faith and suffering.
God’s grace will restore your life. (1 Peter 5:10-11)
“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. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
God is the God of all grace in our struggles. He is a God of grace. His grace is the undeserved loving kindness he shows us. His grace is also the power that restores us and strengthens us when we are weak and have lost our way. His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). He is also the God of all grace. He is the God of saving grace, living grace, dying grace, and eternal grace. Our suffering lasts only a little while, but our fellowship with his eternal glory lasts forever. We have been called into that eternal glory. That knowledge helps us stand firm in the face of great adversity and the devil’s attack.
Hold fast to the reality that God is at work in your life so that you do not let the devil derail your life because you know God’s grace will restore your life.
This is an awesome truth.Too many times we let little things hinder us from receiving the blessings of big things that God has in store for us. If we will just focus on the two main ones the others will follow and we will find the peace that passes all understanding. They are love the Lord Hod with all your hear, soul and might and the other is love your neighbor as yourself, that doesn’t just mean who lives next door to you , even tho that is true, but to love your fellowman , all of them the ugly the pretty the downcast the ones on top and we we do this it covers a multitude of sins. When we show love it’s hard to get off track, even tho like your message says , the devil is roaring around and also the principalities and spirits of the dark world and in heavenly places, we must fight this spiritual war we are dealing with on a daily basis. Studying Gods word is a privilege and we never can get enough of it. Seek him while he may be found. Thank you for sharing this with me.
Reflecting on God’s love and care for us is always a such a comfort. Even moreso when facing all the adversities the world throws at us. Thank you.