Just a Little While Longer…
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (1 Peter 5:10).
Nobody likes to suffer.
But when we know the ordeal has an appointed end, it’s easier to bear.
The History Channel has an adventure reality show we like:
It’s called Alone.
It follows the self-documented daily struggles of 10 individuals as they survive alone in the wilderness for as long as possible using a limited amount of survival equipment.
There’s intense isolation, immense challenges, and a good deal of suffering!
The one who outlasts all the others wins a half mil. (I think they deserve a full million, but I digress.)
One by one they “tap out,” and the last one standing gets the prize.
Recently they invited past participants for a rematch; only this time, there’s a twist: there were a predetermined number of days to the ordeal.
If you make it fifty days, you’re a winner; you split the cash with any of the others who held out for the seven weeks. So you get settled in and start crossing off the days.
One of the contestants said something that reminded me of this verse.
Through her chattering teeth there in subfreezing temperatures she said:
“What a difference knowing there’s a limited number of days to this dreadful time rather than having it just go on and on like last time. It’s so much easier knowing there’s an appointed end that I can have in sight!
True.
Painful troubles don’t just come upon us in indiscriminate ways or for indeterminate days.
Each trouble comes with an expiration date set by heaven…
“And after a little while,” the redemptive purpose will be complete, the timer will go off, and boom–the trouble will disappear as quickly as it came.
That’s a promise from God.
After the painful “thorn” has done it’s work, and when the “little while” is over,
Four Things will be left in its wake:
This verse promises that “God, Himself will:
1. RESTORE YOU
The Greek can mean to “mend or repair.” It is used for when the disciples were “’mending” their nets on the shore.
He’s repairing His image in us, isn’t He? Marred as it was through the fall.
He’s making us what we ought to be.
2. CONFIRM YOU
The word means “to make stable–to make something immovable.” (A nice quality to have in a topsy-turvy world!)
3. STRENGTHEN YOU
God will make sure that this trouble leaves you stronger, not weaker; more determined and equipped to serve Him–not less.
Finally.
4. ESTABLISH YOU
It’s the same work that Jesus used when He said:
“The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it was founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:25
That’s you! That’s your life–made safe and secure by God Himself!
And in part, it’s thanks to this trouble of yours, and how He’s at work in you through it.
Are you suffering, my friend?
Keep some truths in mind during times of adversity:
The gray clouds have a set number of days.
God is using it for your good.
And “after a little while,” it will pass, leaving you much better off in its wake.
You never know… maybe it’s today.