1 Peter 1: 3-9
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Rather than present a devotional I thought I would offer a prayer instead. I find that as I get older I have fewer words to offer. Perhaps though, you might identify with my prayer.
Prayer
Dear God, I know that faith is extoled as a virtue and that we are encouraged to view our suffering as not being final, but rather as a character building and faith strengthening exercise as we live toward the time when “Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1Peter 1:7). Peter encourages us as God’s chosen people to live with a wonderful expectation of this time. But these are difficult times. No more difficult than when Peter first wrote his letter no doubt. And most of us cannot put ourselves in the shoes of those early Christians facing persecution. Ours is a different time with different challenges. Right now we are facing a crisis of global proportions. The dreaded Covid-19 crisis is threatening lives and livelihoods on a scale not experienced by most of us in our lifetime. Yet no doubt the message to us is the same. We are to “be truly glad” (1Peter 1:6). I look for signs of your presence in our world but am not seeing very many. The earth is suffering and your people are suffering and quite frankly I’m no longer fine with all those platitudes that get dished out by Christians at a time like this. Mind you, I have to admit that I have been complicit in this. As if some form of logical argument will solve the turmoil and pain people experience. By the way Lord, I really dislike the phrase closure. Everyone wants closure but I don’t think we ever experience closure. We just learn to live with our brokenness. I have to admit that on many occasions I have identified with the writer of Ecclesiastes and have contemplated the meaninglessness of much of life. But through all this I do know you are there. And I hold on to the fact that we live in this time between the now and the not yet. I want to look forward to that day when the whole creation knows your purposes, but I don’t think my faith is as strong as it might be. I am more like Thomas than the other disciples. But I am glad that I exist in you and that you are there even when I am not aware of your presence. Help me to learn the lessons that are good for me, that will build my character and make me a more loving person. Help me to see others and not just focus on my own needs and feelings. Please continue to be with and in your world and your Church and continue to grow faith in even your weakest saints by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Major Dr Dean Smith