One of the most crucial lessons to learn as a Christian is how to handle suffering. In this fallen world, suffering is a certainty.

It may be the physical suffering that goes with living in these frail bodies that get sick and die. It may be the grief of watching a loved one suffer and die.

It may be problems stemming from your own sin or from others’ sins against you. It may be the common pressures of life, of providing a living and wondering how you’re going to pay all the bills.

It may be the emotional suffering of struggling with feelings of inadequacy, loneliness, anger, worry, or fear.

But wherever it comes from, suffering is inevitable. And, it can make you grow bitter or better, depending on how you handle it.

It is significant that in Jesus’ parable of the sower, two of the three soils that failed to produce a crop represent people who did not know how to handle suffering.

The rocky soil, Jesus explained, pictures those who receive the word joyfully at first, but do not sink down roots, so that when affliction or persecution comes, they fall away.

The thorny ground reflects those who seem to grow for a while, but then allow, among other things, the worries of the world to choke out the word so that it does not bear fruit unto eternal life (Mark 4:16-19).

1. To grow solid through suffering, humble yourself before God (5:6-7).

The Greek word translated “anxieties” comes from a word meaning to divide. Anxieties divide our minds, so that we cannot concentrate on anything else.

Someone has defined “worry” as “a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”

Thus worries and anxieties distract us from the productive things God wants us to do and consume us by diverting all our thoughts into these channels of fear.

Why is there a need for humbling yourself in a time of trial? Because at the heart of anxiety is the proud notion that I can handle things by myself.

We all have a sinful tendency to lift ourselves up and to pull the Lord down. We’ll call on God for a little boost now and then, to get us through something.

But we don’t know what it means to cast ourselves totally upon the Lord until He yanks the rug out from under us through some trial that is bigger than us. Even then we tend to scramble to regain control without submitting to God’s mighty hand over us.

At the root of this self-reliance is pride. Suppose you were on a ship which encountered a fierce storm at sea. You don’t know anything about handling a ship in such rough waters, but the captain is a seasoned veteran who has brought his ship safely through many such storms.

Wouldn’t it be the height of arrogance for you to go up on the bridge and tell him how to run the ship or, even worse, to take the helm from him?

George Muller used to tell the story of a boy who was walking along the road carrying a heavy load. A man came along in a horse-drawn cart and offered him a ride. The boy climbed in the cart, but he kept the heavy load on his shoulders. When the man asked him why he didn’t put the load down on the cart, the boy replied that he didn’t want to burden the horse!

We’ve climbed into the cart of salvation through Christ. He is in fact bearing our load. Why don’t we let go and put it all on Him?

We’re prone to doubt two things in a time of intense trial: God’s sovereign control over circumstances: “Where is God in all this?”

And, we doubt His concern for us: “If God is in control and cares, then why is this happening to me?”

Peter says that we must bow and acknowledge God’s mighty hand—His sovereignty and power. He wasn’t asleep at the helm when this trial hit me. And, we must bow and affirm His loving care—He cares for me personally, in spite of how it may seem in the middle of my crisis.

How do we cast all care upon God? Try this simple prayer: “Heavenly Father, you know what problems I face today. You know where I will meet discouragement, and where I may feel too weak to go on. You know that most of my anxiety is over worldly pursuits that won’t matter when I am with you in eternity. Today I will trust you each hour for the strength, wisdom, and love to make this day worthwhile. In all my busyness today, let me feel all your joy. In Christ’s name, Amen.”

2. To grow solid through suffering, resist the devil (5:8-9).

No sooner has Peter got us to relax by casting our cares on the Lord than he yells, “Wake up! Be alert! There’s a lion on the prowl, and he’ll eat you for lunch if you aren’t careful!”

George Morrison put it: “God does not make His children carefree in order that He may make them careless”

The fact is, in a time of trial, you are especially vulnerable to the enemy of our souls. You must be sober and alert so that you can resist his attacks.

When it comes to dealing with the devil, Christians often go to one of two extremes: Either they see the devil behind every bush; or, they ignore him altogether.

The former are more prevalent in Christian circles now than the latter. These folks see the devil everywhere. They go around casting out the demons of every common cold, the demons of car trouble, the demons behind emotional problems, etc.

They often blame the devil for problems that stem from their own sin or mistakes.

But the Bible just tells us to resist the devil.

The devil will get you to think that you’re the only one in the world going through the kind of suffering you’re experiencing. Your trial is unique! Surely, no one else understands! “They have slain your prophets, and I alone am left!”

Remember that verse 6 comes before verse 9: We must bow before God before we stand against the devil.

Resisting the devil is a defensive posture. I don’t advise stalking him like a lion hunter. But if he roars against us, we stand firm in the full armor of God and he will flee.

Also, we need to understand that we are to flee certain sins, but resist the devil.

3. To grow solid through suffering, trust the sovereign Lord (5:10-11).

Peter is saying, “God hasn’t forgotten you in your trial. He is the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ in the first place. Thus you can trust Him to use the trial for His purpose in your life, because He is the sovereign Lord who has all dominion forever and ever!”

But trusting God has fallen on hard times in Christian circles. It is viewed as about the most impractical thing you can do. If you came to me with a big problem in your life and asked, “What should I do?” and I said, “I think you should trust God,” you’d probably go away thinking, “What worthless counsel!”

And yet from cover to cover the Bible extols the practical benefits of putting our trust in the living God as the way to deal with our problems!

You ask, “How can I trust God? It seems so hard to do when I’m in the middle of a crisis!” There are at least four ways to nurture your faith suggested in these two short verses (9 & 10):

• Put the trial in perspective. It will only last “for a little while.” You say, “For a little while! I’ve been going through this suffering for years!” But even a whole lifetime is a little while in light of eternity.
• Put God in perspective. He is “the God of all grace.” His grace is like the ocean, a limitless supply, that keeps breaking over our lives time and time again. It will never run out.

Remember, God withholds grace from the proud, but gives it to the humble (5:5), those who lower themselves by admitting their total need. So in your time of trial, come as a needy soul and ask, and He will give you abundant grace to meet your need.

He is mighty to save His people from every trial, if it be His will. Even more, He is mighty to save us from eternal destruction. Nothing can separate us from His love and care. In your trial, rehearse in your mind God’s mighty strength as seen over and over in the Bible.

• Put God’s calling and purpose for you in perspective. He “called you to His eternal glory in Christ.” You didn’t come to Him by your own strength or effort. He called you.

He didn’t call you to condemn you, but to bring you to His eternal glory in Christ. You will dwell in His presence throughout eternity. In your trial, look ahead to what God has promised for those whom He has called, and you can trust Him to bring you through it.

• Put God’s purpose for trials in perspective. He Himself will “perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” “Perfect” means to equip, repair, or render complete. It was used of Peter “mending” his fishing nets (Matt. 4:21).

God will put you back together after the trial so that you will be useful to Him. “Confirm” means to fix, set fast, or strengthen. Jesus told Peter that after he was restored from his denial of Jesus, he would “strengthen” [same word] his brothers.

“Establish” means to lay the foundation. Jesus used it to describe the house founded on the rock that withstood the storm (Matt. 7:25).

Thus the overall idea is that the sovereign God will use the trials to establish you in your faith and to equip you to serve others in His cause. So you can trust Him in the process. Thus, to grow solid through suffering, humble yourself before God, resist the devil, and trust the sovereign Lord. Finally,

4. To grow solid through suffering, stand firm with other saints in God’s true grace (5:12-14).

This section is the concluding greeting of the letter. But it contains a powerful truth, stated also at the end of 5:9, that you don’t go through suffering alone. And there is a strong testimony that what Peter has written is God’s true grace and an exhortation to stand firm in it.

Note first that we go through suffering with other believers. These final verses are brimming with warm relationships.

When we go through trials, we should go through them together, supporting one another as family in Christ.