Though you have not seen him, you love him; . . . you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. (1 Peter 1:8)
She was in the middle of class when she got an email that read, “I’m sorry . . . we will be switching services . . . on July 1.” She sat there for a moment trying to comprehend. Eighteen months prior, she had said yes to God’s leading to go back to school. Everything had fallen into place—from acceptance into the program to the finances. And now, in one brief email, the foundation of the future was shaken, as she learned she would be joining the ranks of the unemployed on the same day as her husband, July 1.
Two years later, on the other side of the trial, she and her husband smiled as they remembered all the ways God moved. “Sometimes our circumstances kept us hanging on to joy with both hands,” she recalled. “When we were sure we couldn’t face another obstacle, God showed up—being present in our struggle and saving us one moment at a time.”
The exiles Peter was writing to had faced their share of trials and suffering. I’m sure doubt, fear, and discouragement often showed up to taunt them. Would God’s salvation ever come? Peter reminded them it had already begun.
No matter how difficult or dark the circumstances of life look, God doesn’t leave his children alone. Keep loving and believing in him. The salvation you’ve been looking for has already begun.
Keep hanging on to the inexpressible joy of God’s presence.
Angela Alvarado serves as the assistant editor for the Communication and Administration Division of The Wesleyan Church. She is a graduate of Wesley Seminary, Marion, Indiana.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
