December 17, 2021 – Friday
1 Peter 4:19 NLT
19 If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you
1 Peter 4:19 NIV
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
1 Peter 4:19 ESV
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Comment.
On this date six years ago a friend from Rwanda, Catherine Bitwayiki, posted the NLT version of this verse with her own commentary and I reposted it then and again today. She gave it the title God’s Plan for Your Pain. I posted the NIV and ESV versions hoping to make better sense of the verse and they helped. The NIV is a dynamic translation and the ESV is mostly a literal (word for word) translation, they are very similar here while the NLT is a paraphrase translation.
Still a bit baffled I went to BibleGateway.com and searched for the word suffer under the NIV and found 62 in the Old Testament and 88 in the New Testament with 19 in 1 Peter. Thus it was no surprise when 1 Peter 3:14 jumped out as a suggested result, But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”*
This provided the idea of using more 1 Peter verses to make sense of 4:19. So here we go with a series of them with a thought added in as well – all NIV:
1 Peter 2:19, For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.
Following God makes it possible to bear many trials and tribulations that otherwise might be impossible.
1 Peter 2:20, But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
Sometimes we may suffer for doing good, doing what is right and it helps to know this is commendable to God.
1 Peter 3:17, For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
It is enough to know it is God’s will if such a time should ever come.
1 Peter 4:13, But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
Doing God’s will makes it possible to rejoice while participating in the sufferings of Christ.
1 Peter 4:16, However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
There is no shame in suffering as a Christian because then we are in God’s will, doing as He would have us do.
1 Peter 4:19, So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. Now we are at our Verse of the Day and in the context of the prior verses it makes much greater sense now.
Suffering will likely come our way as Christians. It could be on the job, family sickness or the loss of a loved one, rejection by friends and or family, or any other of a myriad of ways, but it will come. When it comes we should continue to do good while committing ourselves to our Creator.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for making it clear that suffering will come our way sooner or later and that we should be prepared to continue to do good in Your name while committing ourselves to You always. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton in Beavercreek
PS: Posted on FB 6 years ago by Catherine Bitwayiki and I reposted it the same day and again today.
God’s Plan for Your Pain
“If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” (1 Peter 4:19 NLT, second edition)
Remember what photography was like before everything went digital? When you took a picture, the first thing you’d get was a negative. Then you had to develop the negative into a positive by going into a darkroom and shining a light through it onto photographic paper. This turned the negative into a positive full-color photograph.
That’s what God wants to do with the injustices in our lives. We all have them. People have mistreated us. They’ve passed over us. They’ve taken advantage of us. God wants to take all the negatives, shine the light of Jesus through them, and turn them into positives — a full-color picture of the life we were made to live.
The Bible says, “If you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you” (1 Peter 4:19 NLT, second edition). The most important thing you can remember when you’ve been treated unfairly is that Jesus is on your side. There is no sin that God judges harsher, except maybe pride, than that of injustice.
All throughout Scripture, God shows special care for people who are treated unfairly. He is a God of justice. He hears your cry, sees your pain, and he knows you were hurt. You didn’t get what you thought you deserved. But God has a plan for your pain.
When you shine the light of God’s love through your circumstances, he can turn your pain into a beautiful picture. He develops your character through it. He makes you stronger. Most importantly, he uses your pain.
You’ll never get an explanation for much of the pain you endure in this life. When you get to Heaven, you may understand more about why bad things happened to you. But God does not owe you an explanation for it.
But here’s the good news: You don’t need an explanation. You just need to know that God loves you. He has a plan for you. God will settle the score with whoever hurt you.
God never wastes a hurt. Welcome the light of the gospel into it and God will use your hurt — the very real injustice that has happened to you — to create a beautiful picture through your life.