The church of the dispersion was experiencing unprecedented persecution and suffering. This appears to be the chief motivating factor behind 1 Peter. Peter knew they were suffering horribly for the name of Christ. He therefore knew they needed a word from God to endure this harsh cruel reality.
Faith becomes a precious commodity when persecution is beating you down like a sledgehammer! Questions and doubts flood the mind. Wide ranging emotions flood the heart. One may wonder if faith in Christ is really worth all the pain? One may question God’s existence, goodness, power, faithfulness, or love. One may begin to blame God and charge Him with wrongdoing. The heavier the persecution, the slimmer the faith at times. So Peter wrote to encourage the believers with some truths about suffering.
One such truth is that we have an adversary who spends his every waking moment on the lookout for draining faith! When we are at our weakest point, Satan is on the prowl. His rotten nostrils can sniff out suffering miles away! You can bet that where persecution arises, Satan is soon present sneaking around, searching for his next victim, the suffering, faltering believer! (5:8)
Peter exhorts the suffering believers to resist the snares of Satan through faith! The very substance that is so hard to come by during suffering is the very means of resisting the enemy’s lies. Peter therefore provides them with two truths to bolster their faith. (1) They are to know that they are not alone in their suffering. Their brothers in all parts of the world are suffering with them for Christ’s sake! (2) God is gracious and watching. When His work in their suffering is soon complete, His work in their uplifting will begin!
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