Our Stories
Between the Commas
By Keith Ferrin | posted 07/10/2008
And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-11)
My 10th Grade English teacher was a wonderful, smart, frustrating, difficult, encouraging woman named Anne Franke. (I'm not kidding. That was her real name.) When it came time to write a paper she would frequently say something to the effect of, "If you have to put it between parentheses, commas, or hyphens, it's probably not important enough to stand on its own. So just leave it out." I don't know that I ever really agreed with her, but for my sophomore year of high school I obeyed.
Several years ago I was studying 1 Peter and came across these verses toward the end:
And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10-11)
As you might have noticed, there are four commas in that first sentence. Whenever I read 1 Peter, I want to have Mrs. Franke hand it back to Peter with a B+ at the top (the grade I received most frequently from her) and say, "Take out the phrase between comma #2 and comma #3." After all, look how beautiful this would be without that phrase:
And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
So triumphant. So glorious. So empowering. So...easy. Hmmm...
But those blasted words in the middle just spoil the whole thing for me. "...after you have suffered a little while..." They just don't seem to fit in the midst of words like grace, eternal glory, strong, firm, steadfast, and power. And yet there they are.
Not many of us like suffering. I know I don't. But I've realized that having that phrase in the middle gives the rest of the verse more power and rings more true. Without trials, there is no need for grace. Without suffering, eternal glory doesn't seem quite so necessary. With brokenness, we have no need for restoration. Without weakness why should He give us strength? If our foundation is strong in ourselves do we really need Christ as our firm and steadfast foundation?
It is the suffering, weakness, brokenness, and trials of this world that remind us that we need – and have - a Savior, King, and Lord who is grace-giving, able to restore and make us strong, and who is a firm and steadfast foundation. It is He who has called us to His eternal glory. It is He who is deserving of the power. Forever...and ever. Amen.
Alongside,
Keith
To respond to this message, email Keith at keith@thatyoumayknow.com.
Keith Ferrin is founder of That You May Know Ministries.
