“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. All power to him forever! Amen.”
1 Peter 5:10-11 NLT
We read these two verses today and receive the assurance that through Jesus everything will work out okay in the end. But those in the middle of the suffering Peter was referring to might wish to see a positive situation much sooner than that. Bringing that theme up to date, think of the single mum, constantly struggling to balance her small family budget. The man desperately looking for work so that he can pay his bills. The old lady cowering in a cold, dark cellar, waiting for the next bomb to fall, hoping that it doesn’t hit her home. The parents distraught as they look at their child, sick with an aggressive cancer, suffering beyond anything we would wish to experience. But in this sin-ridden world, all these examples are only too common and many lift their eyes to Heaven and shake their fists at a God they hold accountable for their misfortunes. How could the God of the Universe, they say, allow all this suffering to happen, particularly to them.
But Peter starts with the thought that God is kind. In fact, he refers to the eternal glory we will share with Jesus through God’s kindness. God doesn’t have to show us any kindness because, after all, we humans are polluted by sin, and we offend His very righteousness. But the revelation to Peter’s readers was that they could experience God’s kindness in the middle of their suffering. But how can that be, we ask? Will God pay our bills? Perhaps. Will He heal the sick child? It has happened before, many times. Will God …? In times of suffering, no matter how intense, we lift our eyes upwards to the very throne of God, not in anger, but looking to receive the kindness of our Heavenly Father. It is an encounter that will transform the situation in which we find ourselves.
Whenever I think of God’s loving kindness, I go to the Book of Psalms. Here I can find prayers, songs, poems, and words of worship that can bind our spirits to God’s. Psalm 36:7a, “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! … ”. Or Psalm 69:16, “Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies“. Then there’s Psalm 17:7, “Show Your marvellous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You from those who rise up against them“.
We pilgrims live in a sin-ridden and evil world, and believers everywhere are not immune to the consequences of sin. But Jesus came to save us by taking on board the sin for us. And instead He gave us His righteousness. Paul wrote about what we call the Divine Exchange in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him“. So we have access to all God’s resources through Jesus. Peter wrote, “he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation”. J L Packer wrote in his book “Knowing God”, “We have said that when people know God, losses and ‘crosses’ cease to matter to them; what they have gained simply banishes these things from their minds”.
So today, no matter what our situation is, can we just lift our eyes above the suffering and get a glimpse of God reaching out to us, ready and waiting to show us the kindness we need? There may just be a break in the clouds …
Dear kind and gracious Heavenly Father. Thank You for Your love for us, and we thank You for Jesus who has showed us the way to Your presence. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 