FROM SUFFERING TO SETTLEMENT

“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 Peter 5: 10

God’s Pattern on the Journey of Destiny is to lift His children FROM SUFFERING TO SETTLEMENT: “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” (1Pet.5:10). God is ultimately more interested in your settlement than in your suffering. In His divine plan, suffering is meant to be only for “a while” – temporary and transitory – never permanent. Suffering for righteousness could sometimes be part of the Perfect Potter’s work of Divine Processing. However, it is not in His perfect will to culminate the destiny of any of His children in pain. Suffering could be the pedestal to Glory. Your present pain will soon give way to Glory. The ultimate plan of God is to SETTLE YOU!

Yes, there is a place for suffering for righteousness sake in the Believer’s journey of destiny: “But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, and evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter” (1Pet.4:13, 15-16). Indeed, Blessing has been pronounced upon those who “are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Mt.5:10-11). In a sense, we are all called to “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Phil.3:10). “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2Tim.3:12). But suffering is never the end of the story!

In God’s plan, righteous suffering always culminates in glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ followed this trajectory: “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into HIS GLORY?” (Lk.24:46). Calvary was not the end of the story. The Resurrection followed the Crucifixion. The Cross ceded to the Crown. Hebrews 12:2 reads: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has SAT DOWN at the right hand of the thrown of God.” Whatever suffering confronting a believer cannot be compared with the Glory to follow: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in us” (Rom.8:18). “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil.1:29).

“…after you have SUFFERED A WHILE” implies that suffering will always “come to pass” – it will never come to stay! The Believer’s suffering is temporal, while the glory is eternal: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2Cor.4:17-18). How long one remains in destiny’s suffering phase depends on what one’s focus. God wants us to focus on eternal things – “the things which are not seen” – rather than life’s visible problems and tangible challenges – “the things which are seen.” That’s when we’ll come to acknowledge the reality that those afflictions are “light” and “for a moment” – “a while”! Whereas the Glory is eternal!

Beyond suffering “a while” the God of all Grace promises to “perfect, establish, strengthen, and SETTLE YOU.” The Amplified Bible says, God “will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and settle you” (1Pet. 5: 10). God will make you whole, secure, strong, and firmly founded. No matter what you’ve been through, tragedy will never be your terminus; disaster and destruction will never be your destination. The God of all Grace will lift you from suffering into settlement.