How to cope if 2021 doesn’t turn out to be the end of our hard times

By Dean Collins

I can’t remember a year in my lifetime where everyone couldn’t wait to see it end!

Over our lifetime we’ve all seen election cycles start and end. One side is thrilled to see their preferred team in charge and the other side kicked to the curb. There’s always big hope and big fear for what is ahead but life goes on. It’s never as good or as bad as was promised or feared. It turns out that both political parties are flawed and imperfect. They end up doing some things well and some things horribly. So I wouldn’t get too excited or too disappointed by the changes you anticipate in the coming year.

2020 has been exhausting not only due to politics but even more so due to a yet uncontrollable virus. We’ve all had our plans interrupted this year. We’ve lost loved ones, seen friends struggling with health and finances, and felt a roller coaster of feelings as we went through 2020. Everyone wants this roller coaster ride to end and step onto some solid ground.

What if 2020 was about preparation? And you may not like this next sentence. What if 2020 was preparing us for more suffering and difficulties? Let’s think about it together. While the vaccines have begun, it is going to be a long time before they can truly reduce the number of infections and change our lifestyle. And whatever good we might hope for in a new year, I’ve never yet seen the calendar change and suddenly everything was different. What can change, however, is how we approach our challenges and fulfill our purpose, especially our ultimate mission of honoring God and extending his Kingdom reign.

Hard times

When Peter wrote his first epistle he drew upon his three years of life with Jesus. He also likely wrote from the most powerful city of his day and in the early to middle phase of extreme persecution of Christians. Rome was the power city, and Nero was not at all friendly to those who loved Jesus more than Rome. We can learn a lot from 1 Peter about how to approach hard times and even suffering.

Peter starts his letter to suffering Christians living in uncertain times with a reminder to take the long view. According to Peter, we have a living hope not a dying one. Not only is our hope based on a resurrected Savior and King, but our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. We have only the best of the best to look forward to when we claim eternity and change our address forever. Peter reminds believers through the centuries that we are exiles now on the way to a permanent and glorious future home.

We have only the best of the best to look forward to when we claim eternity and change our address forever.

Consider this former fisherman with limited education speaking so confidently and with clarity about how to endure tough times. Peter knew many days of returning home having caught nothing while at work. He knew the pain of many misspoken words and actions while following Jesus. And he knew the pain of failure when, in the heat of a moment and filled with fear, he told all in earshot he didn’t know Jesus. But he also knew the feeling of being restored and being given the keys to new and even eternal opportunity. He qualifies as one we can learn from in this moment.

Every moment

Peter knew things don’t always go well but that God redeems every moment and that if we do not give up, the challenges we get through today make us stronger and more prepared for the challenges we face tomorrow.

Here are a few quick takeaways from Peter on dealing with suffering and living faithfully:

1) Our trials and struggles are for a little while (1:6).
2) The Word of God planted in us never perishes or fails (1:23ff).
3) We are the chosen, royal, and called people of God (2:9).
4) As God’s people we need to get on the same page and serve with humility and love and not be prone to vengeance ( 3:8, 9).
5) Use the gifts we have been given, love earnestly, and stop the grumbling (4:8-11).
6) Cast all of your cares and burdens on the Lord knowing that humility will result in God’s intervention and victory (5:6, 7).

We won’t fix all of 2020 in the next twenty-four hours, but we can learn from our challenges and determine to enter 2021 open to what God will do in us and through us, even if and when we face more challenges ahead. Let Peter’s final thoughts be our reminder and our declaration for the coming days:

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:3-9‬ , 22-25; 2:9; 3:8, 9; 4:8-14, 19; 5:1-11 ESV

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash