1Pe 5:10 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.
True victory in persecution is to see God behind the scenes working out His wonderful purposes. Peter gives us a four-fold encouragement:
- No matter what our trials, Peter reminds us that He is the God of all grace. His dealings with us are not based on what we deserve, but on His thoughts of love to us. No matter how fierce our testing, we can always be thankful we are not in hell where we ought to be.
- He has called us to His eternal glory. This enables us to look beyond the sufferings of this life to the time when we shall be with the Savior and be like Him forever. Just think of it! We have been picked up from the scrap heap and called to His eternal glory!
- Suffering is just for a while. When contrasted with the eternal glory, life’s afflictions are less than momentary.
- God uses suffering to educate us and mold our Christian character.
