Peter could preach it . . . because he had tasted it. He could proclaim it . . . because he had brushed up against it. He could cry out, “Keep on keepin’ on” . . . because he had sampled that which convinced him it would be worth it all. Peter says he had been “a partaker.” It seems he was referring to his experience on the mount when he beheld the Master in His heavenly state . . . when Jesus was “transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light” (Matt. 17:2). There he saw “the trailer” for home . . . a glimpse of the reality of that day when faith would give way to sight . . . when the temporal would transition to the eternal. And with that memory etched in his mind he could say with conviction, “The best is yet to come!”

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you . . .   (1Peter 5:1-2a ESV)

It’s that phrase, “the glory that is going to be revealed”, that’s got me thinking this morning.

Peter starts to conclude his letter by addressing the shepherds and overseers of God’s people. Times were tough and they were going to get tougher. The sparks of persecution were fanning into flame . . . soon, many would experience that flame . . . literally! The sheep needed tending. They needed to be led . . . they needed to be fed . . . they needed, in some cases, to be carried. And to the shepherds Peter says, Don’t abandon your flock . . . keep on keepin’ on . . . because the best is yet to come!

Peter had beheld the risen Christ . . . he had looked to the clouds and waved goodbye to the ascended Christ . . . and ever sense then, he anticipated knowing the fullness of the reality he had just caught a glimpse of on the mount. Peter had beheld Christ’s glory . . . and he knew he would behold it again. He had tasted and seen the Lord is good . . . and one day he would feast at the table of the marriage supper of the Lamb. He had taken of the water Jesus offered . . . living water . . . and while quenching the thirst brought on by a dry land, it increased his craving for drinking fully of the rivers of heaven. There’s something about being a partaker of the glory by faith which fuels a desire for the real thing. Because you know the best is yet to come!

And so, in the midst of suffering, in the throws of struggle, when I’m up to my eyeballs in trials and confusion, that’s a pretty good time to consider my “here and now” in the context of my “there and then”. To pause and imagine being in the presence of the One who gave Himself for me. To recall His promise that, even now, He has gone “to prepare a place for you . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3). To close my eyes, and lift my head heavenward, and anticipate the glory that is going to be revealed.

The best is yet to come! No doubt!

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that you have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”  – Jesus    (John 17:24 ESV)