In his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. 1 Peter 5:10 (NLT)
Peter was exhorting elders and young leaders in the church to focus on Jesus and not the trouble they were going through; to remember that it's all about sharing the love of Christ with others and not about amassing glory for yourself.
Life isn’t always easy. Even though we serve the ever loving God, we live in a world permeated with sin, heartache and hopelessness… People’s choices, and our own, will always impact our hearts and lives both positively and negatively, but it's what we choose to focus on in those times that makes all the difference. What we see as the main goal for our lives will change the way we handle and perceive challenges and hardship.
If our goal in life is to get to a place of materialistic perfection, then every trial and tribulation we go through will be seen as a threat to our goal. We will fight it, try to control it, and end up tired and disappointed. We can't always control what happens to us or the fall out from things we have done, but we can control our hearts and our own responses.
If our goal isn’t to reach a higher level than everyone else, but is instead to always learn and grow, to be stronger tomorrow than today, to love and show compassion, to continue to walk through the valley of the shadow of the death and into the wide open spaces of God’s great love and grace… then opposition and trouble become not a threat, but a season to journey through, be strengthened in, a time to learn and grow. They become our greatest opportunities for hope and grace.
Whatever you're facing today, don't see it as a threat to your soul, but allow God to lead you through these grand opportunities for restoration, support and strengthening. When you go through trying times, it's then that you discover just how firm the foundation of Christ is in your life and you'll see hope and opportunity in a whole new way…
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