In the Word: A Little While

Welcome to Hope Mommies’ first edition of In the Word devotionals.  If you are joining us for the first time today, make sure you don’t miss the first posts in this series here.  Over several weeks, we are looking at 1 Peter 1:1-9 verse by verse.  As we study this passage together, we’d love you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you dig into God’s Word each week along with us! 

“In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,”
1 Peter 1:6

READ:

1 Peter 1:6 speaks this to our hearts clearly: we are best off when we think about hardship in our lives from the perspective of eternity. The “various trials” referenced here most likely refer to various types and instances of Christian persecution. 1 Peter 4:4 discusses being persecuted for the “name of Christ.” 1 Peter 3:9 discusses being insulted or criticized by unbelievers. And at the time the letter was written, Christians were being increasingly persecuted by government officials in pockets of areas throughout the region of Rome. So, this trend was on the rise.

In our lives as Hope Moms, our minds probably do not first go to instances of persecution, but to grief and longing for the child or children we will never see grow up. But the application is the same. Our tragedy is only for a “little while” in comparison with eternity. As we grieve, let’s invite Christ into it. This is not as if we are seeking to muster up enough faith for Him. Instead, it is letting Him comfort our souls with His promise that we have a living hope that cannot be ruined, that it is being perfectly and powerfully protected for us, and that it is already, literally ours. Why are we better off with this perspective? Our eternity impacts our “little while” here. Greatly rejoicing in what is ahead means there is to this pain and longing a very sure ending.

REFLECT:

•Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. What additional perspective do these verses give us in viewing the trials we are enduring?

•What example does 1 Peter 5:6-7 offer us as we seek to invite Christ into our grief?

•In what ways can you increase your focus on eternity as you navigate through your sorrow?

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