God of all grace.

1 Peter 5

I lead this passage for small group, and it had a lot of good things to say to elders and young'uns that apply to everybody really. I guess reading this again, one thing that stood out was verse 8-10.

⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. ¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

When I was leading it for small group I didn't really take into account what verse 9 really meant. I recognized that the devil prowls, and recently in my life I've seen that it does and it's presence in tempting me to sin. But now verse 9 gives me strength. We are not alone in this struggle, whatever may be. No matter how much we think we're alone in our sufferings or that some struggle is ours alone, there are only so many situations in the world and so many people to experience them. I'm assured that someone in the world is undergoing the same struggle as me, and I as him. The thing that joins us together however is not our similarities, but rather our joint union and love in Christ. He is who we came from, our present companion, and our future. Together with fellow believers, we resist the sin that tempts us so, and as such the God of grace, who called us to him, will restore us.

¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

For a little while, may seem like a lot at the present time. But as is with most things in life, as it passes by the moments of our sufferings will seem like that, only moments. It's interesting to think that when all has been said and done, it's not that we have grown any more by ourselves, or that we are stronger for the matter. God gives us the strength to accomplish what we are called to. And after our strength is depleted, He is the one who gives us our strength back, who makes us firm in Him, and fixed upon the purpose of our existence.

So as I'm suffering, I know that God is watching over me, and that others around the world are praying for the same thing, are seeking the same peace that I am in wont of. But this is only for a little while, til God calls us to Him, and we shall finally enjoy all the joy that our hearts are ever longing for. The joy that can't be replaced, that lasts forever and never fades. And while we're on earth, God blesses us with his strength and keeps us fixed upon Him, upon the greatness that He is, that we will not be afraid to follow, and not be afraid to declare!