“And after you have suffered for a little while,
the God of all grace
who called you to His eternal glory in Christ
will Himself
perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”-{1 Peter 5:10}.
I had a tough night with painful illness and finally opening my eyes hoping night had passed and morning here only to discover it was just past 1 am, my heart began to sink as I knew I would not go back to sleep, and pain “greeted” me. I wanted to get my mind on truth and Him and 1 Peter 5; 10 an “old friend” came to mind and so I began to think and read and write and below are some thoughts which I hope will cause you to HOPE and GLORY in Him as you understand something the purpose of Suffering….the “old friend” is 1 Peter 5:10.
It is many, many years ago I came across this verse one night in the middle of a night in a year of been bed ridden with the debilitating muscle disease, and the thought of “a little while” gave me HOPE, until I began to think of God’s timetable, a year is a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day to the LORD. With that, it caused me to laugh as I realized my timetable and His may not be the same. How laughter, is good medicine in the middle of conflict and indeed suffering, to know He is in control and this is a verse that gives us HOPE. Indeed look at it. GOD PROMISES… Who is this GOD THAT PROMISES to those who are suffering, as the context teaches, against the evil one who is like a roaring lion seeking to destroy,
“BUT GOD…” in the midst makes a promise to the suffering ones, and He reveals Himself specifically to them by a title, a name.
This is very important when reading. He revels Himself to the suffering ones as “THE GOD OF ALL GRACE!”
In other places He revels Himself as “the God of Peace,”– {Heb 13}; “The God of ALL HOPE,”– {Rom 15:13}; “The Father of mercies and God of ALL COMFORT,”-{2 Cor 1:3} and Here “the GOD OF ALL GRACE.” His Divine Favor, kindness, empowerment and Help are promised. His suffering ones may as it were know Who it is WHO is with them; the cavalry coming over the hills to help is none other than “the GOD OF ALL GRACE.” By Grace He saved them. By Grace He sustains them and as this verse promises through HIS grace He will bring them safely through the suffering to eternal Glory! What assurance, HOPE for the suffering ones to look and fix their gaze upon Him.
This verse is full of PROMISE, its four verbs so full of promise:
* Note His grace is sufficient for them in Suffering. He Himself does not stand afar off, nor even send an angel or host of them to assist, but HE HIMSELF- “THE GOD OF ALL GRACE,” is PERSONALLY INVOLVED, INTIMATELY SO IN their sufferings… and may I dare say so…in yours too. He knows your sufferings, the crushing’s, the pain, the tears cried perhaps alone in the dark where none see “BUT GOD…” He bottles all your tears, for you are precious to Him.
While the context teaches the evil one is out to destroy, GOD IS ABOUT BUILDING YOU UP and one means He uses is suffering. He takes it and uses it for good, your good and note, His Glory.
The PROMISE, This Blessed assurance of Hope is for you and it is from THE GOD OF ALL GRACE.
Note “ALL.”
YOGURT MACHINE AND GOD’S ENDLESS RESERVOIR OF GRACE;
There is never a time when His reservoir runs dry. On one occasion my wife and young children went to a restaurant to eat. After the meal our oldest son was about six years old and he went to get a yogurt. He stood near the machine on tippy toes and pulled the handle to release the yogurt down to his cone, soon I heard “Help, help.” I looked down and he could not force the lever of the yogurt machine back up to turn it off, and stop the yogurt continually swirling out of the machine. If I had left him we would have had one kid sitting in the midst of the floor with a mount of yogurt that the machine would hold. But it would have stopped for their was a limit the machine could hold! But not so God’s grace for “ALL” means no drying up, or running out of His favored grace towards you and power available in time of suffering… and this from “the GOD OF ALL GRACE,” who knows all about your suffering and meets it with this promise and reveals His name and tittle for you to rest in, be assured you’re not alone but He is with you… “the God of all Grace…”
GOD DOMINATES!
In the next verse {v11} the word “DOMINION” is used only here in the New Testament, and it speaks of His dominion over all, including satan, suffering, and He is in control of the temperature and length of your suffering which He has set a time table upon. His timetable. And it is “a little while” though it be tense and seem to the suffering one anything but “a little while.” He has us elsewhere consider that this “little while” must always be “IN COMPARISON TO”… the “eternal glory” that awaits us. {Read 2 Cor 4:17}. In light of eternity which is forever this is but a blip on the radar. He does not dismiss or make light of the suffering. For He uses the word,“suffering.” But with it the PROMISE HE IS WITH YOU. HIS GRACE, AND ALL OF IT IS AVAILABLE TO YOU. YOUR SUFFERING IS TEMPORAL THE GLORY AHEAD IS ETERNAL!
SUFFERINGS GOAL- HIS GLORY!
- “THE GOD OF ALL GRACE” IS PRESENT TO HELP. HE IS THE ONE WHO DOMINATES!
• YOUR SUFFERING IS TEMPORAL, NOT TAKING AWAY THE FACT IT IS PAINFUL
• YOUR SUFFERING IS TEMPORAL AND FOR A LITTLE WHILE…IN COMPARISON TO THE ETERNAL GLORY THAT AWAITS YOU, wherever pain, trouble, temptation onslaught of the evil one , it WILL BE swallowed up in eternal glory by Him who DOMINATES … Known to you and me and those suffering ones Peter writes to as “THE GOD OF ALL GRACE!”
This verse is full of PROMISE, its four verbs so full of promise:
FOUR GOOD WORKS GOD IS UP TO IN YOUR SUFFERING;
“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. “-{ v10.}
SUFFERINGS BENEFITS;
1. – HE HIMSELF WILL… PERFECT – “Katartízō conveys the fundamental idea of putting something into its appropriate condition so it will function well. It conveys the idea of making whole by fitting together, to order and arrange properly. When applied to that which is weak and defective, it denotes setting right what has gone wrong, to restore to a former condition, whether mending broken nets or setting broken bones.“ -{preceptaustin}
2.– HE HIMSELF WILL …CONFIRM – ” stērízō from histemi = to stand as in 1 Pe 5:12 “stand firm in” the true grace of God. “Histemi” also root of “Resist” – anthistemi and of “firm” – stereos, both used by Peter in 1 Pe 5:9), means to make firm or solid, to set fast, to fix firmly in a place, to establish (make firm or stable), to cause to be inwardly firm or committed, to strengthen. The basic idea is that of stabilizing something by providing a support or buttress (a projecting structure of masonry or wood for supporting or giving stability to a wall or building), so that it will not totter.”-{preceptaustin}. Vine feels that stērízō is derived from stērix, a prop (something that sustains or supports). Barclay writes that stērízō means to make as solid as granite.
Suffering of body and sorrow of heart do one of two things to a man. They either make him collapse or they leave him with a solidity of character which he could never have gained anywhere else. If he meets them with continuing trust in Christ, he emerges like toughened steel that has been tempered in the fire. (The Daily Study Bible)
Doug Goins writes that “We’re being hardened and solidified and toughened through suffering, like fired and tempered steel.”
3.- HE HIMSELF WILL…STRENGTHEN – ” (sthenóōfrom sthénos= strength) denotes the idea of God giving them strength to bear all their sufferings without wavering in their faith. It means to cause someone to be or to become more able or capable, with the implication of a contrast with weakness. This verb is found only in this verse in the NT.Peter says that the God of All Grace promises to Himself provide the strength needed to resist the devil, holding one’s ground when he roars.“-{preceptaustin}
Barclay says that “Through suffering God will strengthen a man. The Greek is sthenóō, which means to fill with strength. Here is the same sense again. A life with no effort and no discipline almost inevitably becomes a flabby life. No one really knows what his faith means to him until it has been tried in the furnace of affliction.
There is something doubly precious about a faith which has come victoriously through pain and sorrow and disappointment. The wind will extinguish a weak flame; but it will fan a strong flame into a still greater blaze. So it is with faith.” (The Daily Study Bible)
Commenting on sthenóō MacDonald writes that Persecution is intended by Satan to weaken and wear out believers, but it has the opposite effect. It strengthens them to endure. (Believer’s Bible Commentary) “
God strengthens us to meet the demands of life we encounter!
4.- HE HIMSELF WILL…ESTABLISH YOU – ” (themelióō from themélios = foundational, fundamental, describing that which lies beneath, foundation (stone), base and reference is always to something secure and permanent in itself) means to lay a foundation or provide with a foundation, to place on a firm, secure foundation. The radical notion of themelióō is to ground securely. Figuratively, it refers to providing a firm basis for belief or practice establish, strengthen, settle (place so as to stay, establish or secure permanently), cause to be firm and unwavering.
“Themelioo” is used 5x in the NT (Matt. 7:25; Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:23; Heb. 1:10; 1 Pet. 5:10) and is translated in the NAS as: establish, 1; firmly established, 1; founded, 1; grounded, 1; laid the foundation, 1 Vincent writes that The radical notion of (themelióō) is, therefore, to ground securely. (Vincent, M. R. Word studies in the New Testament. Vol. 1, Page 3-672)
In masonry the “foundation” refers to the underlying base or support or the whole substructure of a building, providing a stable base for any superstructure.
- Peter says that the God of all grace Himself promises to place suffering, storm tossed saints on a firm foundation.
Unlike the second term (“confirm”, “establish”) which refers to supports put around, themelióō refers to the secure foundation on which something rests, in this verse referring to the solid spiritual foundation on which God will establish Christians.
The picture conveyed by themelióō is that of a house which is so firmly fixed on a foundation that it is not moved by winds or floods or figuratively by the stormy waves of suffering or the loud howling roar of our adversary, the devil.”–{preceptaustin}
Barclay – Through suffering God will settle (establish) a man. The Greek is themelióō, which means to lay the foundations. When we have to meet sorrow and suffering we are driven down to the very bedrock of faith. It is then that we discover what are the things which cannot be shaken. It is in time of trial that we discover the great truths on which real life is founded. Suffering is very far from doing these precious things for every man. It may well drive a man to bitterness and despair; and may well take away such faith as he has. But if it is accepted in the trusting certainty that a father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear, then out of suffering come things which the easy way may never bring. (Daily Study Bible Series)
Ritchie – God will… will lay in your lives a foundation of truth–a new set of values. In 2 Corinthians 1, the apostle Paul wrote that suffering produced in him the knowledge that he should not trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead.”
“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.” (1 Peter 5:10).This verse is full of PROMISE, its four verbs so full of promise: restore (katartizo), strengthen (sterizo), make firm (sthenoo), and make steadfast (themelioo). ”
HIS PROMISES ARE NEVER NULLIFIED, OVERTHROWN, HINDERED BUT ALWAYS CARRIED OUT IN FULL. WHAT HE PROMISES HE DELIVERS ON.
THE RESPONSE CAN VARY FROM ones of initial DESPAIR, BEWILDERMENT THE THOUGHT OF “WHY ME?…It’s not fair…” bitterness, anger, resentment, and often where those attitudes arise have to be worked through, repented of and the mind renewed that new CORRECT Patterns of thinking through the lens of Scripture to get His perspective, which causes new and RIGHT ATTITUDES to spring forth and be practiced as we THINK on His ways for us…
Often and acceptance that this is HIS DOING to not destroy you but develop you spiritually to know Him deeper and display Him to others to such an extent in 1 Peter 3 … comes a question by others regarding the asking of you the suffering one,- to give an account of the HOPE that is within you… Your suffering is not just for you but a means to an evangelistic opportunity included!!!
But to those who accept and submit to His way of suffering availing of His grace, what the evil one seeks to use to destroy the believers, “BUT GOD…THE GOD OF ALL GRACE IS PRESENT TO ASSIST, PERSONALLY INVOLVED, ME, YOU, WE ARE NEVER ALONE IN OUR SUFFERING, and God has a purpose to spiritually Mature us and one means Is suffering! THERE IS DIVINE PURPOSE, THOUGHT BEHIND OUR SUFFERING….
NOTE, IN THIS VERSE…
• HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW- YOU ARE NOT ALONE
• HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW HE IS PRESENT TO ASSIST AS “THE GOD OF ALL GRACE. WHO EMPOWERS WHO IS THE “DOMINANT” ONE!
• HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW THE FOUR THINGS HE IS DOING… NOTE THE WORDS…
• HE WANTS YOU NOT TO BE IGNORANT BUT INFORMED
HE WANTS YOU TO HAVE – HOPE- AND GLORY IN HIM – WHO IS PERSONALLY WITH YOU- THE GOD OF AL GRACE… THE ONE WHO IS DOMINANT OVERALL!!! It is not my trying but knowing HE IS TRIUMPHANT, IN CONTROL AND ASSISTING ME, ULTIMATELY STRENGTHENING ME.
ON A PERSONAL NOTE; some of the people who have influenced me most all seem to have one thing in common…they are those who have suffered, there is compassion, an understanding, and Christ-likeness….THERE IS A FELLOWSHIP in the Furnace of affliction.., that is known,
These two verses teach of GOD’S HOPE for the Suffering ones and the response to FOCUS AND GLORY ON HIM…”The God of All Grace…” who “DOMINATES!’….
CAN YOU SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHAT He is doing, the four things mentioned in v 10… the response to Him…v 11
Who does He reveal Himself to be in v 10. Why this title?
V 11 He reveals Himself as the DOMINANT ONE- Why is this important to the suffering ones?
** Good verses to memorize, meditate upon as a source of reminder, and to practice and to share with others suffering ones that…
GOD is doing something GOOD. SPIRITUAL GROWTH THROUGH SUFFERING and OPPORTUNITY TO EVANGELIZE GOD’S ASSURANCE OF HIS PRESENCE; AS THE GOD OF ALL GRACE… DOMINATING ONE.. WHO EMPOWERS…
GOD’S PROMISE TO THE SUFFERING ONES
- GOD’S TEACHING AND PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT OF HIMSELF TO THE SUFFERING ONE
- GOD’S MEANS OF GROWTH- THROUGH SUFFERING.
- & GOD’S GOAL – HIS GLORY – {1 Peter 5;10-11}
1 PETER 5:10-11 Teaches us to Understand some aspects of Suffering and of HOPE AND GLORY!
” For to you it has been granted {GIFTED} for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake”-{Phil 1:29}. THE GIFT THAT NO ONE WANTS; SUFFERING IS A GIFT! JUST AS SALVATION IS!! SUFFER WELL WITH AND FOR HIM, DEPENDING AND DERIVING ALL FROM HIM! IT’S NOT EASY… BUT THERE IS ETERNAL PURPOSE BEHIND IT…
NOT INACTIVITY BUT ACTIVELY, PURPOSELY DOING GOOD!
Peter writes to trust Him during such times, and continue to do good! Peter reminds us “…So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” -{1 Pet 4:19}
For the lost, suffering is pointless in the end, but the believer THERE IS PURPOSE… Knowing Him better, Spiritual Growth, His Glory…and opportunities to make Him known as people observe and ask,”what is the hope of glory within…” AND TO CONTINUE TO DO GOOD!
Hope this encourages you…