A Firm Foundation
We inhabit this beautiful-yet-broken world, so experiencing various levels of suffering is inevitable. Thankfully, for the follower of Jesus, it’s also temporary.
Peter—a disciple, apostle, and close friend of Jesus—wrote this:
“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.”
1 Peter 5:10 NLT
Right before he wrote these words, Peter reminds God’s people that they’re not the only ones suffering. In fact, there are believers all over the world facing trials and hardships because of their faith in Christ.
“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus…”
Because He lived the perfect life we couldn’t, died the brutal death we should have, and rose again so that we might be with Him forever, Jesus is able to invite us to share in His eternal glory. A glory that goes on forever and is humanly impossible for us to fully understand.
“So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you…”
For those who are in Christ, heartbreak is temporary, suffering is fleeting, and even death is short-term. Eventually, God is going to wipe away every tear once and for all, doing away with pain and sadness and crying—forever. God is going to make all things new (Revelation 21:4-5).
“…and he will place you on a firm foundation.”
That firm foundation was established before the beginning of time. It’s a good foundation, a true foundation, and a firm foundation. There is no other foundation that’s more worthy of our trust.
So whatever you’re currently walking through—no matter how hard, horrible, or absolutely heartbreaking—you can cling to this future reality. While suffering is unavoidable, you can know that its days are numbered.
“A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is The LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon...