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1 Peter 5:10 says, “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” When we see the word “perfect” we may think the outcome God desires is for us to never make mistakes. But the Greek word in this verse literally means:
“to mend, to repair what has been broken, to complete.”
Not everything is broken if it’s a Grace Space. Sometimes it’s just incomplete. A net isn’t “bad” because it has a hole. As a fisherman, Peter fully expected that broken places would happen and mending was as much a part of his job as catching fish was. He knew that if a net had a hole, it still caught fish. Sure, a few would get away but that was okay until the end of the day. Peter and the other fishermen didn’t panic. They didn’t plan to throw their net away. It still had great value. In that culture, mending was usually how the day ended and was usually a time of sharing stories, making plans. It was a part of life. When our sense of true self is in need of mending, when there’s a “hole” between what we know and who we’ve become, it might be initially painful – but it never needs to be shameful.
That word “suffering” in 1 Peter 5:10 literally means “experiences that affect us,” usually with some difficulty involved. All of us will have places in need of mending from tough experiences that affect us and God understands that. Jesus’ heart’s desire is to see any difficult experiences of identity as He does: places we can sit together with Him and experience His care as He weaves and mends us with His love and grace. As He treats our weakness tenderly, our sense of being safe, loved and belonging deepens. The mended places of a net become its strongest parts, not its most fragile. ~ excerpt from Navigating Our Grace Spaces book, coming Summer 2024!
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