Theme: Need Some Encouragement?

1 Peter 5:8-10

 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

A roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  The king of the jungle waiting to turn me into mincemeat.  It’s not a mental image I want to face in real life but it’s a battle I face daily in the spiritual realm.  Were I to come upon a roaring lion, I think my natural inclination would be to run away as fast I can (likely screaming the whole way) hoping the lion would be too lazy to chase after me but scripture suggests something different.  Scripture tells me to resist the roaring line and stand firm in faith because a host of others are facing the same battle from the same roaring lion.  Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, also encourages us to stand firm in the Lord and in his mighty power knowing the battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces and goes on to tell us the equipment God gives us to fight the good fight.  

In the scripture above, we are reminded that we are not alone in the battle, that God has surrounded us with his children to help us stand firm in our sufferings.  God’s assurance isn’t just in the fact that we have a bigger family to help us through these sufferings but also the fact that our sufferings are temporary, that they will last just a little while.  The best assurance of all isn’t even about those we are surrounded by but that the God of all grace will restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast.  That is the blessed assurance that we have, that God will work on us and in us to overcome anything we face on this earth.

I have some homeless friends who’s lives have reminded me of God’s assurance for our future as well, if not better, than anything else I’ve known.  These guys live under a tree.  If it’s 40 degrees outside, they live under a tree.  If it’s 100 degrees outside, they live under a tree.  If it’s storming, they try to seek another shelter that will protect them better but they ride out many a storm underneath a tree.  They don’t complain, they don’t moan...they just live out their days underneath a tree because they believe living underneath a tree is temporary.  They know that living under a tree isn’t home anymore than living in a 3,000 square foot house with all the amenities isn’t home.  Home is where God is.  Home is where we will go when it is time to live with him.  Home is where his love for us will lead us when this temporary life is over.  

Our assurance is that God is merciful and full of grace.  Our assurance is that we are forgiven. Our assurance is that the lion can roar today but his roaring is only going to last a short time because God has a permanent place for us.  

Jeff Jones

Decatur, Texas