God gives you all you need to endure until the end.
SHAUNA: Can you believe that earlier this month we celebrated 43 years of Joni’s timeless radio ministry? 43 years and still going strong! Listen in now as Joni talks about an especially encouraging Bible verse she loves to share on the radio.
JONI: Three and a half decades I have shared so many encouraging Bible verses about facing suffering with a heavenly hope. And a very hopeful word about suffering is found in 1 Peter 5:10. Peter tells his friends who were suffering [and I mean, they were enduring really hard afflictions]; he says, “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.” Wow!
Because you know what, sometimes in the midst of tough trials, we find ourselves crying out, “Oh, God, how long, how long, Lord? I can’t see beyond today’s pain. I don’t think I can take this. What will tomorrow bring?” That question, you know; you know the one when we ask, “how long, O Lord?” That question is answered by Jesus in Matthew 24 where he says, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” That’s it? That’s the answer we have from God? That’s not quite the answer we were looking for. But trusting God through tough times is not playing games. Suffering is a threat, a very big threat to our faith and confidence in God. Who wants to be among those who, as it says in Hebrews 10, are “like those who shrink back and are destroyed?” Its why endurance is so key to our faith. When you’re hurting [as I am right now as I share these things my hip is hurting], when you are hurting, you have the airtight promise that God will rescue you if you persevere, if you endure to the end.
I’ll admit, that’s a hard lesson to swallow. But God does not leave us without comfort. Because there is that wonderfully consoling verse I mentioned in the beginning; 1 Peter 5:10 – “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself [get this] restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Oh, my goodness, what a heart-warming thing to hear God say. What a sweet refreshment to people like you and me who are oft afflicted and weary. “We are only suffering for a little while. Just a little while compared to eternity. And after we have suffered that short time, God will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you”. Is that great, or what? In light of that, surely, we can endure to the end.
The assurance that God will not delay beyond what we can endure and that he will completely do away with the trials that weigh us down; that he will shore up our faith that teeters and totters this side of eternity, that assurance, that promise comes directly from the God of all grace. Not the God of some grace, or a little bit of grace, but all grace! He gives us all we need to endure to the end, hallelujah! Friend, no wonder the Bible tells us to rejoice in our sufferings. Our hardships are winning for us an eternal glory that far outweighs the inconvenience of migraines, loneliness, poverty, or even quadriplegia.
SHAUNA: Friend, won’t you join me in thanking God for his promises, such as the ones Joni just shared? And thank the Lord for 43 years of Joni’s inspirational radio program. Plus, I bet someone you know is crying out, “How long, Oh Lord?” So, remind them that suffering is only for a little while. And send them to joniradio.org where they can hear today’s program, and so much more!
© Joni and Friends