A Benediction
30 Days in 1st Peter - day 30
What is going to be the outcome of our earthly trials? What will they accomplish? Will any good come from them?
Most people can endure hard things if they know something good is on the other side. As Peter closes this letter, he gives us that assurance. He pronounces a blessing on suffering Christians and reminds them that God is at work in their trials—and the outcome will be good.
Peter says there are four things the Lord is doing through our suffering. God will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.
“Restore” comes from a word that means to mend or make whole. It was used of repairing broken nets. God is not ignoring what is broken in your life—He is carefully mending it. Not roughly or carelessly, but with the skill of a craftsman who knows exactly what he is doing.
“Confirm” means to make firm or steadfast. When life shakes you, God steadies you. Like a wall that has begun to lean, He secures it so it will stand. What feels unstable now will not always be that way.
“Strengthen” is a rare word in the New Testament. Its negative form means weak or sick. Here, Peter uses it positively—God is making you strong. What suffering seems to drain, God is actually building.
Finally, “establish” means to lay a foundation. Where I live, we understand how important that is. The ground shifts, and without a solid foundation, everything else begins to crack. God is not just patching your life—He is building something underneath it that will hold.
All of this implies something we don’t always like to admit. We are broken and need mending. We are unsteady and need strengthening. We are weak and need healing. We are poorly grounded and need a firm foundation.
And this is exactly what God is doing.
Not in spite of your trials—but through them.
So today, don’t just endure hardship. Rest in this: even now, God is restoring what is broken, steadying what is shaking, strengthening what feels weak, and laying a foundation that will last.
