God’s Grace for TodaySýnishorn

Grace and Peace Be Yours

May God give you more and more grace and peace. -1 Peter 1:2

The year 2020 was truly challenging. The coronavirus ravaged the globe. Economic turmoil abounded. Racial strife simmered. It was a moment of global upheaval unprecedented in recent history, which caused feelings of fear and anxiety.

Whether you got your news from a newspaper, TV, website or conversations with neighbors, good news was in short supply. Most nights, my wife and I watched a national news broadcast. And though the newscasters often tried to end their report on an upbeat note, those well-intended stories couldn’t combat the feeling that things were falling apart.

Peter was no stranger to tough times. The situation as he wrote his first epistle was dire for believers in Jesus fleeing Nero’s harsh persecution. Yet Peter’s letter brims with hope for those looking for a respite from bad news. The opening words stand in stark contrast to the believers’ suffering: “May God give you more and more grace and peace” (1 Peter 1:2).

In good times, it’s easy to breeze right over that greeting without thinking about the difficult circumstances the recipients were enduring. But in a season of fear and anxiety, Peter reminded them—and us—of God’s abundant gift of grace and peace in Jesus: “a priceless inheritance” that can never “change [or] decay” (v. 4). It’s a hope that transcends the bad news of today and reminds us to lift our eyes to Jesus—the One who fills us with “glorious, inexpressible joy” (v. 8) as we entrust each day to Him. Adam R. Holz

How do you think reflecting on Scripture helps you endure times of fear and anxiety? What passages can you commit to memory and lean on during tough times?

Father, when I face difficult seasons in life, help me trust You to anchor my heart in hope and trust You to reach beyond the anxieties and fears that flourish around me.