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Suffering and God in 1 Peter
Suffering and God in 1 Peter
Suffering: it is probably the biggest argument used against the idea of the existence of God. Known fact: people suffer. Many people then find it difficult to reconcile such suffering with the idea of a loving and powerful God.
Peter writes about suffering and yet doesn’t address this ‘problem’ at all. He speaks of suffering some 17 times in this little letter of 5 chapters without addressing this. I think it is simply because he didn’t see it as a problem. Interestingly enough, Peter spends almost equal time writing of the suffering of Jesus and the suffering of Christians.
Peter witnessed the suffering of Jesus (5:1). Such suffering was planned and predicted by God in the Old Testament (1:11). He states that Christ suffered FOR sin (2:21), that He suffered ONCE for sin (3:18), and that such suffering was ‘in the flesh’ (4:1). In such suffering, Jesus conducted himself in a godly and righteous manner (2:22-23) and thus is an example of how Christians are to conduct themselves while suffering.
Peter writes that we are to make sure we are not suffering as an evil doer (that we are not just receiving the consequential punishment of our evil actions) (4:15). We are to live as Christians and thus when we suffer for THAT we can glorify God (4:16). We are to live righteously and if we suffer for THAT we are blessed (3:14). In such suffering that is undeserved we are to patiently endure (keep on doing the right things we were doing) (2:19-20). In such suffering for righteousness, we are to ‘entrust our souls to a faithful Creator while doing good’ (4:19).
Missing in all of this is any outright explanation of WHY God allows such suffering (even planned for and predicted it). Many men have written many books trying to explain such. The fact is that there are many diverse reasonings that DO explain, at least in part, why God allows for such. Part of the problem in this is that all such ‘answers’ have part of the truth. To take any particular act of suffering and explain the cause and the purpose/reason for it is usually not possible.
Also, the part that often gets left out or perverted is the fact that all suffering, for the godly, is ‘of this world’. While there will be eternal suffering of the ungodly, all such suffering ends for the godly. Men are often guilty of trying to explain the suffering of this time apart from the eternal purposes of God. Surely, we will fail with such an approach.
In the two books of the Bible that seem to dwell upon the idea of suffering, Job and 1 Peter, the writers dwell not on explaining the ‘why’ of such but on instructing how godly people are to conduct themselves while suffering. The real question is not if we will suffer, but how we will respond when we do.
1 Peter 4:19 - "Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."
Hugh DeLong
