1 Peter 5:10 

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.

Do you have places in your heart that are broken? And maybe they hurt. Maybe the idea that those places aren’t as they use to be, actually hurts more. I know that feeling. I have those places too. 

Every year, my husband Tim and I choose a word.  We use this word as a lens through which we look at everything in our life. We look at God through this lens, we look at ourselves through this lens and all the circumstances surrounding our lives.

A few years ago  I chose the word restore. This is the only year in 9 years of doing this that I really couldn’t choose one word. So I actually chose two. 

restore + renew

re·store

bring back, return, repair, or renovate 

re·new

Resume, reestablish, give fresh life or strength to

I had no idea at the time of choosing those words how many places in my life needed restoration. I knew my heart was heavy and wishing for a fix that would make it feel different. That is what I was asking God to do. To make the brokenness feel right again, not for His glory but so I would feel better. Because acknowledging the broken things that were out of order was uncomfortable and painful. But it didn’t work like that.

Since we believe that all scripture is God-breathed and all words are included in the Bible for a reason, we can’t gloss over the middle part of this promise. Before the promise of restoration, Peter says that you have to suffer for a little while. 

You are going to have painful pieces and broken places in your life. You are going to mess up because that is what happens in our sinful world. But this is where we see the beauty of the restoration promise. Without suffering and pain, restoration wouldn’t mean much. 

See, the word restore actually doesn’t seem to appear in the original text of the Bible. Instead, some translations use the word “perfect”. That God will make you perfect. Only after you have suffered a little while.

Did you catch that?

He isn’t going to just put the pieces of your life back the way they were before. He is going to make you even better. He is going to make you PERFECT, strong, and settle you. He is not a God of just putting out our circumstantial fires. He cares deeper than that. 

Suffering isn’t fun. But it makes you stronger. It teaches you endurance and how to rely on Christ ALONE. And in the end, it will be gone. 

I hope this has encouraged you, friend!