1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
The concluding verse to this chapter summarizes the key idea that will help believers through their suffering. It is challenging to continue to follow Christ when doing so creates cultural shame, strained relationships, animosity, or outright persecution. These stresses upon a person may come in waves, short periods of time, or be persistent and powerful. In my personal experience, the moments of shaming by others can become crippling emotionally, especially if this comes from family. In my weakness, I crumble under such pressure. It is in our weakness, however, that we experience a form of God’s grace that we cannot experience during the good times (see 2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Sometimes our only option is to commit ourselves to God and cry out for help. This is our best option, but we may be blinded to it because of the overwhelming onslaught of darkness, which even may come from well-meaning people. We will face a decision when people seek to shame or harm us emotionally or physically: we can cringe in our human weakness or we can cry out to our Creator for help. If we cringe back in shame in order to protect ourselves in some way, we will be tempted to compromise our conviction and give in to the darkness. If we do our best to follow the way of goodness, we will be able to tap into the richness of God’s grace. That may not mean we will escape from the suffering, but we can be assured that our faith will grow stronger because of our commitment to following the light.
For older posts, click here.
