Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 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. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:7-11)
Now that you have been saved by the blood of Christ, do not make a mistake about yourself. Do not let anything define who you are in Christ.
Do not be deceived by the devil any longer. He will try to fool you with both success and failure in life. The devil will try to encourage pride and boast in place of gratitude when God gives you success. He will try to make you fall into discouragement when you think you failed. He will also use your present circumstances to make you fall into unbelief.
Most of all, the devil will try to fool you by using his original tactic against humanity: “You will be like God” (Gen 3:5). He will try to make you think you can fool God, but you are only fooling yourself.
You will harvest what you plant. If you live to satisfy your sinful self, the harvest you will get from that will be eternal death. But if you live to please the Spirit, your harvest from the Spirit will be eternal life (Gal 6:7-8). Remember, the devil is the “father of lies,” and everything he says is lies (Jn 8:44).
So, be very careful when you think you can do it. It is God who made all you are and all you have possible through Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who lives in you, leading and empowering you. You are what you are by the grace of God (1 Cor 15:10). At every moment of your life, enter into the finished work of salvation with gratitude.
But when faced with hardships in your life, how should you deal with them?
First, you must understand that suffering was not a part of God’s original design. He made us truly happy by giving us a unique identity and authority in Him (Gen 1:27-28).
Human suffering began with the appearance of Satan, the introduction of sin into the world, and the fall from the glory of God (Gen 3:1-20). And the sufferings will continue through eternity (Lk 16:19-30).
Original sin brought death to mankind (Eph 2:1). The devil took over the entire human race as his own (Jn 8:44) and had been controlling their lives from the beginning of time (Eph 2:2). As a result, all have been oppressed by the power of the devil, living in the background of hell (Ac 10:38).
But God so loved the world that He sent the True King to destroy the devil’s work (1 Jn 3:8). He sent the True Priest to break the curses of sin and to end our sufferings (1 Pe 3:18). And He sent the True Prophet to bring us back to Him by rescuing us from the background of hell (Jn 14:6).
Only the One who could carry out all three offices of the True King, the True Priest, and the True Prophet could end our fundamental problems and sufferings. The Anointed One. The Christ. His name is Jesus. He finished the work of the Christ on the cross (Jn 19:30).
When Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, something happened to all of our problems and sufferings. Jesus was punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way. And yet God put all our guilt on Him (Isa 53:6-7).
Jesus carried away all of our weaknesses and sufferings! He even took away our diseases and carried away our sicknesses (Mt 8:15-17).
If you are a child of God, your problems and sufferings are not yours any longer. Jesus nailed all of them on the cross when He was crucified.
God allows problems and sufferings in your life for a new beginning, a new plan, a new hope, and a new future (Jer 29:11). So, give all your worries to God because He cares for you (1 Pet 5:7).
Be aware of the devil as he is trying to fool you with your present circumstances. Lay down all your thoughts and your ways (Gal 2:20). God’s thoughts and His ways are higher than yours (Isa 55:8-9). Live only by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you.
Do not treat Jesus as one of your guests. He deserves to be the ultimate Master of your life (Jn 2:1-10). When Jesus becomes the Lord of your life, He will do His work in you and through you, which you cannot possibly think or imagine—turning water into wine!
Know that the sufferings in your life are common to all children of God. By grace, God has chosen you to share in His glory in Christ. It is God who allows you to suffer for a short time. But after that, He will make everything right. He will make you strong (1 Pet 5:10).
God will support you and keep you from falling. Do not try just to endure your sufferings. Try to discover God’s perfect plans through the Word, and you will be able to “enjoy” any circumstances of your life. And your Father will be glorified through all this.
Prayer. Father, I thank You for the troubles and sufferings You have allowed in my life. Because of what Jesus has done on the cross, I now declare that these problems are not a problem but a beginning of Your blessing. I believe that, after I suffer a little while, You will restore me and make me strong, firm, and steadfast. In Jesus’ name, Amen.