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| 1 PETER |
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| suffering. They also wanted explanations of the meaning of suffering. Why does God allow it? Can good result? Does God care? In short, they were asking the questions that occur to any Christian who goes through great trial. According to Peter, suffering should not catch a Christian off guard. We are "strangers" (1:17) in a hostile world, and where Christians thrive, storm clouds may gather. Suffering is an expected part of a life of sincere faith. Peter's Own Experience On the subject of suffering, Peter makes an ideal counselor, for readers then and now. He had been flogged and imprisoned for his own faith, once even expecting execution (Acts 12). Also, Peter had personally watched Jesus endure suffering, and in this letter he points to him as an example of how to respond. Peter encourages his readers to "live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God" (1:12). Suffering can refine believers and give us an opportunity to prove our faith, the result thus working out for our benefit. This book emphasizes a further point also: suffering is temporary, to be endured only for "a little while" (1:6; 5:10). Those who suffer with Christ will also glory with him in a life forever free of pain. Skeptics have criticized the church for stressing a future life rather than working to improve this one. "You promise pie in the sky by and by," they taunt. But to Peter's readers - wary of enemies on the prowl, unsure of surviving another day - that message was as tangible and nourishing as food. According to 1 Peter, our hope that suffering will one day |