Wednesday 27 Mar 2013

Wednesday Reading: 1 Peter 3:17-20

Key Verse: 1 Peter 3:17
17  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

Devotion:
When we do something wrong we don’t have much of a problem when we get into trouble or with trouble finding us out, but when we have done nothing wrong we do tend to complain when things go wrong for us. We even turn to God and start blaming Him for allowing things to happen to us. When we read a book like Job we then start to think that maybe God is allowing things to happen to us; but what we have to remember is that He is not doing this to us!

What we need to do is to always remember both new and old testament books because the old testament books may well tell us how bad things happened to people who believed in God, but the books from the New Testament will also tell us of the things that Christ had to endure just so that we would not have to. Jesus came forward and submitted to the terrible ordeal that was ahead of Him just so that we would not have to go through that. It does not mean that we will never have to face horrible things anymore; just that we will not have to pay for our sins with eternal death.

Instead we should look at the fact that we are suffering and then look ahead to what is in store for us. We have a most wonderful eternal life ahead of us because of what Jesus did for us; so when we are faced with a little up-hill during our somewhat shorter life here on earth, why should we worry so much about it. We may even look at it and say that it is better for us to have to put up with that up-hill than an unsaved person who will suffer from all manner of doubt and even depression because of the suffering.

Christ suffered for our sakes. He suffered even though He had done nothing wrong. We are the ones who have done things wrong and He paid that price for us. When we face a little discomfort, and it is exactly that when compared to what Christ went through, then we should be thankful that we are able to put up with it because we have the Holy Spirit comforting us throughout our duress. So let us rather tell others of this great comforter we have in God during our times of distress so that they can be encouraged to find out more and invite Christ into their lives as well!

Points to Ponder:
Do you get stressed when things go wrong?

How much do you look to God for help?