But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
Strengthen ... means "to make strong,"[34] and suggests the strengthening that comes to steel, or iron, when it is heated with fire and suddenly cooled, thus "tempering" it and giving it much greater hardness and strength.  The onset of the fires of persecution would harden and strengthen the faith of many.