PERFECTED, ESTABLISHED, STRENGTHENED AND SETTLED

“And after you suffer for a short time, God, who
gives all grace, will make everything right.
He will make you strong and support
you and keep you from falling. He called you
to share in his glory in Christ,
a glory that will continue forever.”
I Peter 5:10
(New Living Translation)

The age old question of ‘why do bad things happen to good people’ is still the topic of many books and discussions. Suffering is a characteristic of the Christian life and should be expected. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12).”
There are different types of suffering that can cause the believer much discomfort and pain. There is physical suffering, which occurs when a part of our physical body begins to malfunction or not operate the way it was intended. Mental suffering is caused when situations cause vexation, frustration and anguish in the mind. Spiritual suffering can manifest in different forms and can come from the world, the flesh or satan. Sometimes types of suffering can overlap. Imagine Job’s plight for example. He had all three at one time.
Your response to suffering and trials will determine the outcome. You can despise it, faint under it or be exercised by it and learn from it. (Read Hebrews 12:5-11). Regardless of the type of suffering, you must understand that God allows it so that you will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Ultimately, suffering in the believer who is exercised by it and learns from it will bring glory to God and will be a vessel of honor able to be used for the divine purposes and plan of God.
The Apostle Peter states what suffering trials, persecution and chastening yield in the life of the believer. He also states emphatically that the suffering will be ‘a little while.’ This ‘little while’ in comparison to eternity is a short time. Compared to the glory that will be produced, it is a ‘light affliction.’ In any event, we must say like Job, “all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come” (Job 14:14).
If the believer responds with submission, it will first render you complete, or make you what you ought to be. Next, it will establish you. Suffering will make you stable-minded and consistent. Thirdly, it will strengthen you. It will cause you to be steadfast in the soul (mind, will and emotions). And finally, it will settle, or found you. This relates to your foundation. Your foundation will be sure and strong able to withstand the storms of life.
Suffering and chastening are the marks of sonship. The lack thereof shows spiritual illegitimacy. God allows it and it is filtered through the loving hands of your loving heavenly father. Your reaction to suffering will determine what it will produce in your life. God’s desire is for it to make you all that he intended for you to be from the beginning. Through suffering, God will do the work to make you into His image.