1 Peter 5:7–10 (NLT) “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.”
Peter reminds me of Job’s story and how he persevered through all sorts of calamities.
Look at a few verses from Job:
Job 5:11 (NLT) “He gives prosperity to the poor and protects those who suffer.”
Job 5:17–18 (NLT) “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.”
Job 22:21–22 (NLT) “Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you. Listen to his instructions, and store them in your heart.”
What is my point here? My point is that throughout life’s trials, loss, divorce, addiction, heartaches, headaches, stress, nightmares, anger, frustration, negativity, deaths, abandonment, feelings of being lost or bewilderment, and many other adjectives is that we are not alone.
As Peter wrote a long time ago there were others around the world suffering for the faith like there are today. Our personal sufferings are not in defense of the gospel. Our personal suffering is the result of our poor decisions. Please don’t misunderstand me, because those personal sufferings could be a test or trial to get us to rely on God and not our own energy. In many ways, our personal suffering can be similar to that of Job’s, and as Job, if we remain strong in our faith and trust God, He will strengthen us if we submit to Him as Job, Peter, Paul, and many other believers have done.
For me it is a source of encouragement that I am not alone in every struggle I face. It might seem as if you are alone, and when asking the Lord “are you there Lord” and he answers with by strengthening you with a sense of peace, a sense of understanding, a sense of awe, a sense of warmth and love, you know He is there and you are not alone after all
God Bless everyone and I do hope that in your struggles that you come to realize that you are not alone, God is there all the time, and all the time, God is there.
Isaiah 41:10 (NLT) “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Mike
20 January 2022
The Christian Underground Journal
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