What does 1 Peter 4:19 mean?
How should Christians respond to suffering in this life, especially to suffering we experience for being identified with Jesus? Peter sums up much of his answer to that question in this one verse.First, we must understand that sometimes it is God's will for us to suffer. So far, Peter has revealed that God may use our hopefulness in the face of hardship to point others to faith in Christ. He may use our struggles for Christ's glory. And He may use suffering as a kind of discipline to grow our faith in Him.
So, understanding that we may experience difficult times as a part of God's will, God calls us to entrust our souls to Him, our faithful and trustworthy Creator. This is a declaration to ourselves, and the world around us, that we will not wait for circumstances to improve before we call God good. We will believe that our good God is caring for us through our suffering and into the glory of eternity.
We trust our souls to the One who created our souls and everything else. Nobody is more worthy of our trust. So what should we do now, while waiting for that day, even as we may suffer? What is the evidence that we are trusting Him? We give evidence to the world by doing good. Nothing speaks more powerfully of our faith in God through Christ than to continue to do good even as we suffer. When we choose not to spend our energy seeking revenge, or mind-numbing pleasure, we demonstrate that we are indeed a holy people set apart by God for His purposes.