Encouragement #1While your situation may be difficult, it is not something new or unique.In other words, you are not the first to face it.When you find yourself in a difficult situation it is tempting to begin thinking that you are facing trials that others have not faced before.You might say to yourself,“I would do what the Bible says but my situation is just so different.”The problem is that is not the case.Being attacked by the people in your life for doing what God wants you to do is most definitely not a new thing.In fact we see that is what was happening to the people to whom Peter writes.And not just happening.Peter expects it.That’s why he says in verse 12 of chapter 2,“Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers.”Notice the,when.It is not if.Peter expects that unbelievers are going to slanderously attack believers. He’s not shaken or surprised as he considers this reality. He expects it. And actually as we continue to read throughout this letter, we find all kinds of other difficult situations as well.Like abusive people abusing the authority they have over Christians.Believing women with ungodly husbands.Being persecuted for being a Christian.These situations and others, they are difficult. But they are not something believers have not had to face before.The truth is looking at this passage we can say something even bigger than that.We can say that all this suffering for righteousness sake is something Peter sees as part of what God was up to in saving us.That is the very point he makes in verse 21.He says, “For to this you have been called…” Called meaning saved. Saved to do good, suffer for it, endure and be rewarded by God in the end. And then again verse 9 of chapter 3, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary bless, for to this you were called…” Which tells us that whatever is happening to you is not something surprising or out of line with the kind of Christian life the Bible tells us about.The early church went through it big time and you know the fact is it is not only the early church.We can take this a step further because Peter tells us in verse 21 of chapter 2 that we look back to the founder of the church, Jesus Himself and we see that we serve a Savior who experienced intense injustice all throughout his life.Peter says,He suffered.v.21, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you…”And he suffered unjustly.v. 22, “Who committed no sin…”Which means that while your situation may be incredibly difficult and feel completely unfair ultimately until you have lived an absolutely sinless life and been crucified in spite of it, or because of it, no matter how bad your situation is, no matter what particular difficulties you are going through, there is at least one person who has had it worse.Jesus.Which may not sound like the greatest encouragement in the world.Except that listen sometimes when we are really struggling we start feeling very alone and it does help to realize that we are not. Alone. We are not walking a road that nobody else has ever walked before.As Paul puts it in1 Corinthians 10:13.Mark it down.“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.”