I was praying this morning for two friends who are fighting serious illness. Then I read 1 Peter in the scriptures and noticed what (the Spirit through) Peter had to say about the time between today and someday, the time between the present and the promise. Here is my journal entry:
Scripture
What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven — and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
6–7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. 1 Peter 1:6-7, The Message
Observation
Wow! The Holy Spirit really spoke through Peter in this epistle of faith and hope. Peter would soon hold on to his faith and be crucified rather than deny his faith and avoid crucifixion. He bet his life on the truth of what the Spirit said through him in this letter to believers.
As a Christ-follower, I can learn from this scripture what to expect in the time between today and my ‘promised someday.’
On that ‘promised someday’ we will celebrate genuine faith along with God: “Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.” When we reach that promised someday every Christ-follower will “have it all – life healed and whole.” (vs. 5) (By the way, it doesn’t mean I can’t contend for healing right now. Many people received ‘right-now healing’ through Peter, as we witness in the Acts account.)
Application
But what should I expect to happen between today and that day when everything does what it should and works like it should? What happens in the meantime is a combination of things very pleasant and things very unpleasant:
In the meantime, anticipation: “we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven.”
In the meantime, assurance: “and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future.”
In the meantime, a promise: “The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.”
These three ‘in the meantime’ features make me “feel great,” like Peter says. But then he shares some more things we may experience in the meantime:
In the meantime, aggravation: “You have to put up with every kind of aggravation.” (worsening conditions; exasperation; stress; hassle; frustration; vexation. The opposite of alleviation and pleasantness.)
In the meantime, suffering: “Pure gold put in the fire … faith put through this suffering…”
On one side of the meantime scales is frustration and vexation. On the other side of the scales is assurance and anticipation. Which way do the scales tip? The same way they tipped with Jesus:
In the meantime, “What a God we have!” Jesus Himself experience intense aggravation and suffering and came through with victory. He’s already blazed the ‘in the meantime’ trail for us.
Prayer
You’re amazing Jesus. You promise us a special someday. You stand with us today. And you turned the good, the bad and the ugly of the meantime into victory.