“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.10 And 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. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

This entails just a little back-tracking, but I thought it would be good to read verses 8-11 in ‘The Message’

‘’Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.’’

 We have seen that the context for 1 Peter is suffering. The church to which Peter wrote was facing hard times. But there is a key message to hold on to in this paragraph. Here it is:

‘’The suffering won’t last forever.’’

 An old negro-spiritual says,

‘All my trials, Lord, soon be over.

Whether your suffering today comes with a capital ‘S’ or a small ‘s’ it is temporary. It may feel like forever while you have to endure it, but the dawn will come; the day will break, and the Son will blaze in all His splendour. We have been called to God’s ‘’eternal glory’’, and by His everlasting power we can prevail.

PRAYER: Lord, in any sufferings we undergo help us to keep our eyes on you, and fill our souls with an ever-growing hope.