Good morning,

Our devotion for today comes from 1 Peter 5:9-10 "Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.  But the God of all grace, who hath called us onto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you." 

Wherever you are today, meditate on this; even lying in your bed, you feel the tension tightening your back.  You burrow down deeper into the sheets, curling up, covering your head with your blanket.  The last thing you want to do is get up and face the problems which have troubled you.  What is the point?  It seems like everything you have tried has backfired and that there is utterly no solution for your dilemmas. 

However, there is hope.  First Peter 5:10 promises, "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." 

Though it feels like your foundation has been shaken and nothing is secure, you can be confident that God is working on your behalf to perfect (mature), strengthen, and establish you.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on whose lenses you are looking through, He can only work these things in you through pain, for suffering is the most effective of all education.
    

Frank C. Laubach explains, "There is a deep peace that grows out of illness and loneliness and a sense of failure.  God cannot get close when everything is going alright and is delightful.  He seems to need these darker hours, these empty hearted hours, these wilderness seasons, to mean the most to people."  Do not despair.  God is doing something wonderful within you.
    

Have a blessed wonderful day!

Your brother in Christ,
J. H. Flakes, III