The God of All Grace

"The God of All Grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while." -1 Peter 5:10 (CSB)

This evening, while reading 1 Peter 5 in preparation for a discipleship meeting tomorrow, I stumbled across this verse that struck me to the core. It was simple, yet profound. My God is gracious, my God is good, my God is a healer, my God gives strength, my God restores, my God establishes, and my God restores. He is much more than this one verse can hold, but I found it so beautiful and so hope filled, that I couldn't help but write it down to memorize.

This week has been hard with Trey being gone, and while I don't necessarily want to say it's suffering, because suffering in my eyes means so much more, it has been hard. So in its own way it's a little sprinkle of suffering. I miss him, and everything feels incomplete without him here. Maybe this isn't exactly the suffering that is being referred to in this passage (I'm actually sure it's not), but for me, this is where I'm at. God speaks to us where we're at, and I know this verse was meant for me at this moment in time.

As Christians, we are not called to an easy life. We are called to hard places, and it is promised that we will suffer. Suffering produces a joy in Christ that is not easily found when things are all sunshine and rainbows. This is why it's good to suffer. It brings growth and reliance on the Lord.

I know for a fact that I cannot do this month alone. I am support raising, and away from my new husband. My flesh wants to curl up in a ball and cry and never leave my bed, but I have been called to something different. I have a mission for this month. To raise support in order to be able to do the ministry work that I have felt called to since my sophomore year in college. It's hard. It always is, and being away from my number one Earthly supporter makes it all the more difficult. But then, this verse is brought to light.

The God of ALL GRACE... ALL GRACE. Did you catch that? He's big, and his grace is bigger than we can even fathom. Grace is getting something that we do not deserve. It is a gift, and this gift can only be given by God himself. ALL GRACE. It all belongs to him, and he desires to give it away to us. I don't deserve this. I daily struggle with trusting God, and believing that he is as big as he says he is. But then that grace comes in. Grace that covers a multitude of sins. What an amazing and unimaginable blessing.

God, who gave us this gift has called us, has called me, to an eternal purpose in Christ. He has chosen me to use my gifts and talents that he so sovereignly gave to extend his Kingdom and glorify him. That's a HUGE calling. But doesn't it make you feel special? You've been called to something bigger than yourself. Just because. You didn't earn it. You couldn't earn it. God picked you before you were born, and now you are called to this mission. To make followers of Christ. That's huge, and something that can't be done alone. That's where Christ comes in. We were never meant to do anything alone.

So when the sufferings come. In all shapes and sizes that they come. God leaves us this promise. He himself... Read that again... He himself, not an angel, or somebody else, but He himself will restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. Take that in for a second. You're not alone. The suffering isn't the end. God has a sovereign plan to use this pain for his glory, and to get you through it himself.

So while I might feel a little suffering being away from my husband, I know that God keeps his promises. He will do what he says he will, and this verse will be fulfilled in my life. Over this next month. This is not the end of me, this is a season of growth, of dependence on the Lord, and I am humbled by it. I don't deserve it, I never did, but I will praise God in it, because he so graciously saved me from my sins, and called me to something better.