But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (1 Pet 5:10)
Do you ever get agitated when things are up in the air . . . and they refuse to come down? Living with uncertainty is hard on the human psyche. We all want things to go smoothly and we usually fingernail-bite when things get nebulous. Whether we are in the ambiguity of transition or the anxiety of the unknown, there’s one thing we all have to do . . . SETTLE DOWN!
Notice how Peter says, "after you have suffered a while". I don’t know if I like that "a while" part. I want to be settled now. None of this future stuff. Life is too short. Let’s get it on, man! But as much as that is in me I realize that a major part about being a Christian is to be Christ-like in character. I have a lot of remodeling to be done in my interior. God works on me through those tough and unsettled times and the goal is be more like Him so I can reflect His love and beauty to a lost and needy world.
God will settle me after I have suffered a while. Until then I’ve got to learn to SETTLE DOWN before I am settled. I don’t always have to be fussing and fighting and squirming and striving. I’ve got to learn that tough lesson of contentment. He knows how long "a while" is. But His promise is to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle me. Only God can do that because He’s the only one that can tame me.
Okay, I think I’m settled now. What was that you wanted me to learn, Lord?
Louie