“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. All power to him forever! Amen. I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:8-14 NLT
God is always with us, especially in our suffering. Peter’s purpose in writing his letter was to give the people (and us) encouragement in hard times. We will suffer for Jesus, and this is part of God’s will for us. The Lord can use these hard times to grow His glory inside of us, and His name will be magnified. We need to stand firm and watch out for our Enemy, the devil, who wants to devour God’s sons and daughters.
We will go through hard times; we will suffer for Jesus. We can know that God is always with us. Jesus will never leave us. We are loved. Peter wrote this letter to remind people that suffering does not mean God has abandoned us. Jesus Himself suffered. Peter suffered. The original readers of this letter suffered. You will suffer too – stand firm in grace and love.
How can you hold on to Jesus in your hard times? What do you do to stay on guard against the attacks of the Enemy?
