thankful for 1 Peter
This fall our church (Core Community Church) is going to track through 1 Peter. At first I had no idea what this would be about or why it might be important for our church. But in the past few weeks, my heart has grown increasingly grateful that we are going to study 1 Peter.
1 Peter is anything but a sexy book. It is simply about solid theology, submission in varying relationships, and suffering – none of which are particularly attractive to any human being. There aren’t many verses in 1 Peter that get me really excited about big things that might happen. There isn’t a boom halfway through the book that gets people out of the seats and in the aisles to cheer on the main event. The book really is about three things:
(1) truths that remain truths regardless of your circumstances,
(2) submission in differing relationships, and
(2) suffering.
But I am so thankful for this now. Here is why. In the past year, Whitney and I have encountered more suffering together than we had combined in the previous 4 years of our marriage. It has felt like one difficulty after another difficulty for a long string of months now, approaching a full year. At first it hit hard, but it seemed like a one-time shot. Then there was another huge blow to my emotions, coming from difficulties in my extended family. Since this was messing with my emotions, it was also messing with our marriage. We were simply both exhausted, especially my interior life. Then there was a slight lull in suffering while God gave us strength to give away to our new born, little baby girl. Just a few months into our daughter’s life, though, there was another blow, this time on Whitney’s side of the family. Shortly after that came two more knocks from my side of the family. Looking back at the past year, the multiple small things do seem to add up. Sickness, cancer, sin, confusion.
Just in the past few weeks, we got to see God work a beautiful miracle in the way he sold our house. In the current economy, we figured it would be nearly impossible to sell, especially considering its location. But we had a realtor come over anyway to advise us. We decided we might as well give it a shot, but before it was ever put on the market our realtor had already found a purchaser. Just yesterday we accepted the official offer, and now we await the closing date while scrambling to find another house or an apartment. The offer was amazing, and we are going to end up making a good sum of money on a house in a bad location right in the middle of a poor economy.
Previously it felt like most things in our life were like this recent sell of our house – amazing, easy, and quick. When big changes happened they were usually exciting changes full of promise. But now – in this moment – it feels like this recent sell of our house is the rare occurrence instead of the common occurrence. Whitney and I are so thankful for our house selling, and we don’t want to downplay it at all. But it is different when it is embedded against a stronger, darker background of suffering that is surrounding us.
In light of that, I am loving 1 Peter – the non-sexy, no-big-boom, truthful book about being born again by God’s word, submitting even when I don’t want to, and suffering together as a people of God. I love it. Each word is for me and Whitney.
