“But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.” – 1 Peter 2:25 NASB

In my garden last month, I had a beautiful, thriving zucchini plant with healthy blossoms that were beginning to turn into a harvest. Now I have a dead plant and pests that have spread to my cucumbers. It’s simply the nature of living in a fallen world, but it’s disheartening when circumstances that were once a source of joy turn sour.

It reminds me of how we so often look forward to a future that seems hopeful and overflowing with promise, only for that delight to be ripped away by an undetected enemy. We can be blindsided by situations that destroy our expectations, thus finding ourselves navigating pain that never should have been.

When we begin our journeys as Christians, it is rare that any of us knows ahead of time what lessons we will face in our lives. Sometimes we think we know ourselves well enough to know which types of struggles will be hardest to endure, but often we come to find out that those lessons that hit the hardest could never have been expected.

Though I’d read it many times before, the first time I truly pondered that verse in 1 Peter was after I’d encountered a tremendous betrayal that left me reeling. Christ was our prime example of suffering injustice, and He did it on our behalf, so that we might know everlasting life – but how could I endure injustice that felt incredibly pointless and benefited no one? 

I asked this question over and over as I prayed for deliverance, for relief from the pain. I prayed that there could be reconciliation, that those who had caused the suffering would make the godly choice to right the wrongs. As the situation continued and nothing changed, I asked that God would at least show me what good purposes He was working together.

But at one point I finally threw my hands in the air and surrendered. I could not understand, and none of it made sense.

Through all the wrestling and asking and praying, however, I developed a deeper, more personal knowledge of the truths I had been taught. I might not be able to make sense of my circumstance, but I could learn how to move forward in love and purpose and put that knowledge to use for good instead of evil. I had to be intentional in how I allowed the wounds to impact my life, by actively making righteous decisions:

• God does not force His hand on anyone. He gives us the freedom to choose, and those choices can either produce devastating consequences or beautiful redemptions. I can choose to act in obedience to God, no matter what choices anyone else is making.

• Since we live in a fallen world, life is not always fair. It’s no surprise that we all suffer from things that never should have happened. Instead of being angry that the world is unfair, I can choose to remember that there is a reason that eternity is etched into our hearts – one day His perfect justice will prevail.

• Our temptation is to want to hurt others in response to the hurt. I at least wanted those who did the damage to recognize how wrong and hurtful their actions were, but I can’t control that. However,  I can choose to love and bless others who are hurting instead of focusing on how I was wronged.

• We all feel at times that God has abandoned us, especially when we feel helpless as we watch wickedness prevail. Although our sense of justice comes from God, we have to have the humility to recognize that we can’t enact perfect justice the way that He can, and justice matters to Him. I can choose to wait patiently for God to be the judge.

Jesus knows what it’s like to be unfairly slandered and betrayed. When we seek to follow His example in living a God-honoring life, we put to shame those who attempt to bring us down, and we bring about glory for the kingdom of God.

“For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.” – 1 Peter 3:17 NASB

Suffering sanctifies like nothing else. God rewards those of us who truly seek Him, and each step we take that honors God, especially when it’s painful, creates within us a beauty that this world needs. God sees you, He knows the injustice, and you can trust Him to use it to bless you in the strengthening of your character. He can bring forth an abundant bounty from the garden of your soul.