Meditations on 1 Peter (Part 4): Engage

Often when we are experiencing hardship, our natural tendency can be to turn inward, focusing on our pain and isolating ourselves from God, the body of Christ, and those who sin against us. Often, we may spend hours crying, but we do not direct our cries to God (Hos. 7:14). We may think no person can understand the depth of our sorrow. We may simply have no words to express what we are feeling. We may feel too ashamed to draw near to God or others because of the devastating effects of sin in our lives. The last thing we feel like doing is interacting with someone who has hurt us. Even if we don’t actively retaliate, we very purposely avoid. However, Peter is clear that if we are going to glorify God in our suffering we must engage with both God and people.

Our relationship with God is the foundational relationship of our lives. The quality, depth, and intimacy of this relationship affects how we interact in all other relationships – with ourselves, with others, and with our circumstances. Peter makes it clear that we must actively engage with God. We can’t be passive in our relationship with God at any time, but especially in times of suffering, we have to be actively pursuing and cultivating our relationship with God. We must be continually turning to Him in humble dependence and trust.

Peter describes this active involvement with many different verbs throughout the book of 1 Peter. Peter encourages believers to rejoice in God’s mercy in causing us to be born again and giving us an inheritance. Peter tells us to hope in God (1 Pet. 1:13, 3:5). We are believers in God who call on Him as Father (1 Pet. 1:17, 21) We are to fear God (1 Pet. 1:17). We are to honor Christ as Lord. We are to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand. These are more than just commands. They describe how we are to respond in our ongoing relationship with God.

Finally, we are to cast our cares on the Lord. He does care about us, and He does take care of us. We are to actively take our concerns to Him. We can talk to Him and know He hears. We can voice our questions. We can explain our concerns and ask for help. Then we must actively choose to trust Him and wait with hope for His strengthening and deliverance. This casting is not just a one-time prayer offered up as we then seek to solve our own problems in our own wisdom. In an ongoing relationship, we must engage with God in moment-by-moment dependence as we walk through suffering.

Secondly, as we walk through suffering, we also need to engage with other believers. We are involved in a brotherhood of suffering (1 Pet. 5:9), and we need each other. We must be encouraging and strengthening each other. In 1 Peter 4:8-11 Peter exhorts his readers, even in the midst of hardships, to love one another earnestly. Sometimes suffering provides us an excuse to back away from loving and serving others, but each believer is to use his gift to serve one another. God will supply the strength to serve. Sometimes our suffering may limit or shape how we can serve in the immediate context. That is ok. There is a mutuality in the one-anothering of the body of Christ. We should always, in some way, be both receiving from others and giving to others, and the degree and nature of this giving and receiving changes depending on our situation in life. What is important is that we be cultivating an attitude that acknowledges our need for the body of Christ and makes loving and serving one another the priority.

Finally, we are to actively engage with unbelievers or others who have sinned against us, even those who may be persecuting us. This is not a popular idea. One of the first things we teach our kids is to stay away from kids who aren’t kind to them. As adults we make rules about what behavior is acceptable from others if they want a relationship with us. Any relationship that costs more than it gives is likely to be abandoned pretty quickly. But 1 Peter is so clear about how to relate to difficult people. We are to follow the example of the Lord Jesus – both on the cross and throughout his whole life. He did not take vengeance. He didn’t revile those who reviled him. He didn’t slander or threaten. He didn’t return evil for evil. He didn’t fear them but feared God.

But that is not enough. It is not enough to refrain from evil. We must actively do good to those who harm us. We must bless those who curse us – not just ignore them. The way to overcome evil is by doing good (Rom. 12:21). We must learn to love our enemies. We need to grow so that concern for the welfare of their souls and God’s glory become more important than our concern for our personal rights. Peter is clear that a Christlike response to suffering provides a tremendous opportunity to display the glory of God (1Pet. 2:12, 3:1, 15-16). It also provides a powerful gospel witness, even causing the unbeliever to ask us about the hope we have (1 Pet. 3:15). Sometimes wise love will be difficult to discern in specific situations, but we know that the way is found in following in the footsteps of our Savior, who entrusted His soul to God and actively engaged with sinners.

1 Peter 4:19 offers a concise summary of Peter’s message on how to face suffering:

Therefore, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Kim Anderson