NT75 Day 47: 1 Peter

Just because you suffer doesn't mean you're out of favor with God.

Suffering is no fun.  No one wakes up thinking about how much they're looking forward to the suffering that the day holds.  And suffering comes in multiple forms, like a mutating virus that figures out ways to get around the best of our antibodies.  We save our pennies, see the doctor, take our vitamins, go on dates with our spouses, try to invest in our kids, read our Bibles, pray, attend Sunday School, and even sing along with the songs we don't like in church.

But that doesn't insulate us.  Preachers on TV will have you believe that you do the right thing and it will never go bad for you.  It's called the Gospel of Health, Wealth, and Prosperity.  And the only problem with it is that it's not biblical - it's even anti-biblical.  Peter drops that little atomic-like bomb into the Prosperity Gospel when he says in chapter 4 that suffering, at times, happens according to the will of God.  God even uses it to make us into who He wants us to be (see James 1.2-4, Romans 5.3-5).

So, please save your pennies and see the doctor and go to Sunday School.  But when suffering does come, remember that it doesn't mean your out of favor with God.  In fact, you could be smack in the middle of His will.

But that's just me thinking thoughts...