“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” (1 Pet. 5:10).
Heavenly Father, thank you for the weariness-validating, heart-encouraging, perspective-giving voice of the Scriptures—especially this “word” about suffering. I have so many friends who are suffering from a wide spectrum of losses, “crosses,” broken bodies, and overwhelmed hearts.
This I believe: to suffer is to be human. This I’ve never believed more: to suffer well is to know you as “the God of all grace”—our “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Cor 1:3).
The Day of no more “death, mourning, crying, or pain” is coming (Rev. 21:4)—for which we are most grateful. Until then, teach us how to ache to your glory, bear each other’s burdens, and work for each other’s joy (2 Cor.1:24). You haven’t given us permission to hoard our heartaches, or ignore one another’s “too-much-ness.”
As Peter said, in the matrix of mercy, all suffering is just for a “little while.” Father, so when life hurts the most, deepen our experience of you as the “God of all grace.” When we’d gladly settle for temporal relief, remind us you’ve called us to “eternal glory in Christ.”
At just the right time, you will “restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish” us. Thank you, Abba. Make your promises just as real—no, more real than our pain. May your daily mercies define us 7 times more so than our fleeting misery. Free to steward our crucibles as a shared calling—the essence of Gospel-friendship. So Very Amen, we pray in Jesus’ name.