A cold snap, anyone? When your heart is ready for daffodils and coffee on a terrace and then spring suddenly retreats and winter comes back with a force. Sigh. And it’s not any better to get other kinds of setbacks in life. But they are part of life so we need to get used to temporary setbacks. Because they are inevitable and literally temporary. The God of all grace is at work behind the scenes.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10, ESV)

Temporary setbacks

Suffering and temporary setbacks are part of human life. The good thing is God doesn’t leave us to deal with them alone. He is right alongside of us as we struggle through setbacks of any kind.

Our duty is just to cling to Jesus. The best thing we can do is to cry out to him and surrender also these temporary setbacks to him. The faster we do it, the faster God can use even them for his glory.

On the other hand, it’s God’s job to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. Wow. That’s exactly how we’d like to live our lives. We want to be strong, firm, steadfast and put together. And God promises to do exactly that for us. He has great plans for us in Christ. We just need to keep on hanging on.

So when temporary setbacks occur, let’s give them to God. He knows how to use them for our good and his glory. Temporary setbacks may turn out to be blessings in disguise. So let’s go countercultural and praise God for them.

Gracious God,
Thank you for temporary setbacks
and eternal blessings.
We surrender them and all that we are to you, Lord,
and ask that you will guide and bless us.
Restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us
according to your plan for us.
Make us what we ought to be.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How do you feel about temporary setbacks? Do you dare to surrender them to Jesus? Do it & be blessedly surprised.

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you cling to Jesus and praise him especially in hardships! He will bring you through them!

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash.