It’s Monday, December 16, 2024. Sometimes, I catch myself thinking I need more grace. But His grace is sufficient. It’s like saying, “I need more air.” The air we have is sufficient—maybe I just need to breathe more deeply. Perhaps I don’t need more grace; I need more gumption. Less wishbone and more backbone! I don’t need more options; I simply need to keep going. Too often, I grow impatient and draw premature conclusions. You too? Read on...
Today's Reading:
1 Peter 1,2,3,4,5
Scripture
“Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials …” (1 Peter 1:6)
Observation
Throughout Peter’s epistle, we find timeless exhortations to “keep going.” The opportunities to give up in the face of resistance from others will be numerous—and if anyone understood the temptation to quit, it was Peter! Yet, in the end, he pauses and writes to encourage all of us who will face similar challenges.
Application
What is more precious than gold? It’s not just my faith—it’s the proof of my faith.
“… so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).
How do I fare when the torch is put to the metal of my faith? When the fire of slander, resistance, tempting alternatives, side exits, failure, and delayed results converge like the tip of a blue flame, it tests me.
But when it doesn’t destroy me—when it doesn’t derail me but instead refines my identity and purifies my commitment to what God has called me to—that is what God finds precious.
My call is to keep going: to outlast the critics, the storms, the struggles, the trials, and the pain.
He delights in a faith that is "proven," not merely learned.
Prayer
Father, thank You for teaching me to keep my hand to the plow and trust You with the timing of the spring rains and the harvest. I will plan but not demand. I will endure without resistance and remain confident without being self-willed. I choose to be faithful and embrace long obedience in the same direction.
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