Jonathan Munson, Executive Director, RFTH

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” 
1 Peter 1:2

There are roughly 361.6 billion emails are sent each day around the world, with this figure predicted to increase to 408.2 billion by 2027.

The average American worker spends nearly 30% of his/her workday on emails alone. I certainly see this in my life. My workday productivity can easily disappear down an email ‘black hole,’ never to be heard from again. 

I made a conscious decision a few years ago to sign off my emails with “Grace and Peace,” imitating the salutation in Peter’s letter. Given the fact that I spend so much time emailing, it’s a wonderful way to remind my soul of the grace and peace that I have in Jesus.  

The expression, combining both Greek (“grace”) and Jewish (“peace”) greetings, summarizes our foundation as Christians. “Grace” is the unmerited favor of God. “Peace” is the sense of wholeness and well-being we experience when we enter into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. To put it another way, peace is the byproduct of truly encountering the amazing, life-changing power of Jesus’ grace. 

One of the reasons my heart has latched onto Peter’s greeting is its somewhat unusual context. Listen to how he describes the circumstances of his recipients: 

“You’ve had to suffer grief in all kinds of various trials.”
1 Peter 1:6 

“All kinds of various trials,” sounds like a tagline for a book about everyday life, doesn’t it? Whether big or small, quick or long, we can attest that adversity comes in all shapes and sizes on this broken planet.

Furthermore, it’s often not just one trial that threatens to rob us of our peace, it’s the combination of many trials at once. Health. Relational. Financial. Family. The list of challenges is varied and never-ending.  

Realizing the recipients of his letter are in the thick of suffering, how can Peter greet them with “grace and peace?” 

Well, Peter isn’t being inconsiderate. He’s pointing them to the reality that it truly is possible to possess “grace and peace” in the middle of “all kinds of various trials.”

Also, notice that Peter isn’t wishing a little dab of grace and peace upon his readers. He says, “be yours in abundance.” The ESV translation says, “be multiplied to you.” He wants his brothers and sisters in Christ to experience a multiplication of grace and peace for the multiple trials in their lives.

Slow down and let this sink in:  For the abundance of trials in your life, there is also an abundance of grace and peace.

This doesn’t mean the trials will instantly disappear. It means our trials will never outgrow the grace and peace available to us in Jesus Christ. It means we can walk in grace and peace in the imperfect, unresolved, messy problems of life.

Whatever you’re facing today, ask the Lord to multiply His “grace and peace” inside you. Ask Him for “grace and peace” to characterize your actions and attitude. That way, as others observe your life, you will be a reflection of His character, a testimony to His sustaining strength.

Allow me the liberty to conclude this devotional as if it’s one of my emails during a busy workday.

Grace & Peace.   

DIG DEEPER
Read “Embracing Trials” by Bryant Wright