Good morning, and happy Thursday! It is July 25, 2024. Building on yesterday’s devotion, Peter delves a little deeper into something we dislike – suffering! But, like anything, there is a right and wrong way to approach it. If you do it the wrong way, it causes more harm than good. This applies to suffering as well. When you suffer the right way, it brings fruitfulness. The wrong way? Bitterness and resentment. So, how do you suffer? Read on...
Today's Reading:
Isaiah 43,44,45; 1 Peter 4
Scripture
“Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19)
Observation
Peter speaks about a way of suffering that is “according to the will of God.” And if there is a way to suffer that is according to His will, then there must be a way to suffer that is NOT according to His will. This kind of suffering will bring further damage and result in resentment, blame, anger, hurt, and a kind of sorrow that is authored by hell. If left unattended, it can become unquenchable.
However, there IS a way to suffer that is according to God’s will, and that is exemplified in the person of Jesus Christ. We’ve not gone through anything remotely near His level of suffering, yet He leaves us an example to follow in His steps.
I love the amplified version of 1 Peter 2:21: “For even to this were you called, which is inseparable from your vocation … for Christ suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps.”
Application
Suffering will arrive in many and various forms. Some will be just a “slight inconvenience,” while others will require a high pain tolerance, a generous helping of patience, and gallons of self-control. It will test the tensile strength of our faith to the limit and stretch our trust like never before. If suffering had intensity levels ranging from one to a hundred, each level will be visited! And if we do not learn, that level will be visited frequently!
Start by conquering the inconveniences of life. Often, we fail there. Then move toward the development of self-control that requires us to keep our mouths shut even when we think we have something to say. However, that “something” will not edify or build anyone up.
Prayer
Father, I may still be lingering around the lower levels of suffering in a way that is according to Your will. Please remind me during each level of inconvenience that I must conquer it graciously so I can reap the rewards that lie just beyond it.
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