Count It An Honor

1 Peter 3:15-17 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

How often have we wondered and asked, "What is God's will for my life?" How often have we been asked this same question, or overheard someone ask it? Most often, we ask the question seeking a positive answer. What I mean by this is that we expect the answer to be God's will as far as service to Him, or God's will regarding some decision we need to make. The issue with seeking God's will is that He makes it very clear in the pages of the Bible; yet, we choose to override it with our opinions or our "better way of doing things". Why do we do that? We do that because we do not always like those verses that say, "This is the will of God." We do not like them because they fly in the face of what we really want to do and how we really want to live. God's will challenges the flesh and its desires. We love God's promises, but then question why we suffer, when Jesus plainly promised, in the Gospel of John, that in this world we will have tribulation (John 16:33). In today's verses, especially verse 17, God once again tells us that allowing us to suffer may be His will on certain occasions. Yes, there are those times when we do what is absolutely right to do, in accordance with God's Word, and it will be God's will to allow us to suffer for doing good. What we forget very quickly is that God promised that all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). What we also forget is that our suffering is not really about us, but about Him and how He will glorify Himself through it. Do we think that we are better than our Savior? Did not our perfect and sinless Lord come to suffer and die a horrendous death, in order to fulfill the Father's will? Why then would we expect to escape suffering, if God allows it? Who are we to complain, should it be God's will for us to suffer for a moment or two in our lives? If we are going to suffer for the Lord, let it not be because of sin or because we are behaving obnoxiously toward others. Instead, let us suffer for doing good, and count it an honor to suffer for the cause of Christ and the Gospel.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).