Focal Passage: 1 Peter 3:8-17
I remember the day we left so clearly. Pregnant and exhausted I loaded my backseat with clothes and shoes, third in the moving caravan behind the U-Haul and my husband’s truck.
It had been a long three years at the church revitalization we moved there for, and the past six months had been particularly brutal. We had anguished in prayer. I had cried in the shower, begging God to move. My husband fasted and called on friends and family to join us in praying for God to soften hearts and open eyes.
As Peter continues his letter to dispersed believers, he begins a list of commands. I’m always so struck by commands in scripture. I love how direct they are. You’re either “[keeping your] tongue from evil and [your lips] from deceitful speech” or you’re not (1 Peter 3:10-11).
Commands are also some of the most intimate verses. There’s no hiding with a command.
I don’t ever want to relive those three years, but I’m thankful for the way the Lord sustained us. God’s Word ministered to my heart in ways I can’t explain and sometimes ways, quite frankly, I didn’t want. God didn’t make the pain of what we were living go away and for whatever reason He didn’t move in the way we asked, but through His Word He walked with us. He kept us. He cut and revealed. He continued His work. He softened our hearts and opened our eyes in ways only the assurance of Christ and comfort of the Holy Spirit in the midst of suffering can do.