1 Peter 3:8–12 ‘Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil…”’ (vv9–10a)
There are seasons when we experience one setback after another. Our patience is tested and our trust in God challenged.
Trust can either wither and fail when put to the test, or we can choose to keep faith until there is some undeniable evidence that trust has been broken.
With God this is more challenging since God is not constrained by the laws that govern our humanity. We all too quickly believe the worst and not the best.
We anticipate disaster in difficult times rather than nurture an optimistic outlook. Indeed, our temperament too often sets the tone and allows our feelings to dictate our response. Who hasn’t lived to regret statements made in haste when hurt?
Choosing to keep trust with God when our desires remain unmet, and disaster threatens, proves difficult for everyone.
With rising prices, global destabilisation, and our resulting inner fears, it takes courage to keep faith with God.
We must turn to the encouragement we find in fellowship with others in the same boat and the testimony of those who have gone before us, whose stories are found in the Bible and in the Church’s history.
Nothing can effectively prepare us for life, we meet success and adversity, anticipated and unanticipated, and only at the moment of impact can we discover the courage, or the frame of mind to cope, as well as the resilience to turn apparent disaster into opportunity.
Faith is crafted from the raw material of life experience. We can find ways to turn crisis into our launching pad for growth.
A Prayer To Make:
‘Lord, like a muscle, develop my resilience through each and every storm in life I face. Amen.’
Scripture To Consider:
Job 1:8–22; Hab. 3:16–19; Eph. 3:7–21; Jas 1:2–8
