Saturday, April 13, 2002
Saturday, April 13, 2002
If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if
you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval.
The writer of I Peter was writing to Christians, many of whom were getting knocked down
because of their faith. It was troubling to them. They were suffering not because they were
doing wrong, but because they were doing right. It was so unjust. Unfortunately, that is the way
life is, but Christ is always with us. In Christ, we will be healed. We will find joy.
(1 Peter 2.20
NRSV)
It is difficult to advise someone to suffer patiently. We are solution oriented. We like to think
every problem has a nice, neat, quick fix. Self-help books promise slick, glib one-minute
solutions to our every vexation. There are many problems, however, that are not so easily
dealt with. Ask someone with cancer or MS or AIDS. Ask anyone with an abusive spouse or
someone who has a chemically dependent child. Or the person struggling with deep
depression, or loneliness or grief.
Dear God, ease my suffering as I find healing and renewed joy in Christ. Amen.
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