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.
I Peter 5:10
Sin causes us to suffer. You may be in denial that you are suffering because of a sin in your life, but eventually and undoubtedly sin causes pain and suffering. Peter reminds us that there is a devil who prowls around seeking those whom he can devour. He uses our sin to make us stumble and suffer. The good news is that the Lord will restore us and enable us to stand firm and steadfast. Paul questions, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
(Romans 6:1) It is tempting to think that if we intentionally commit sin, we can draw on God’s grace after the fact. This is faulty thinking. First, there are consequences for sin, and secondly, we are to consider ourselves dead to sin. David suffered the consequences each time he sinned. When he sinned with Bathsheba, the Lord allowed their first son to die. When he sinned by taking the census, David had to choose which consequences he and Israel would suffer. It is inevitable that we all will suffer consequences when we sin. The good news is that the Lord offers us His forgiveness, and His mercy triumphs over His judgment. (James 2:13)
Are you suffering because of sin? Is there an area of your life where the Lord desires to bring you restoration? As you seek to align your heart with God’s heart, He will show you where you have fallen. The enemy is subtle and sometimes we do not know when we have fallen into one of his land mines until our foot is blown off. We are unable to walk without pain, but the Lord seeks to restore us.
Joseph sinned when he bragged about his dream to his brothers. The spirit of jealousy went after him through his brothers and he was thrown into a pit. From the moment he landed in the pit of death, God sought to restore him. He was retrieved by a caravan of Egyptians, sold into slavery, and spent time in prison. Eventually he was restored to be the right-hand- man to Pharaoh. His position afforded him the ability to bring restoration to his whole family. God will always restore us, even from the deepest pit!
Heavenly Father,
I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. (Psalm 40:1-2)
In Jesus’ name, Amen
