Read 1 Peter 4:12-19
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice…” (v12-13a)
Some Thoughts…
Ok, I’ll admit it… I am surprised even shocked at any difficulty that comes my way. I’m not overjoyed and my thoughts do not stay very calm. I do find it strange when my tranquil world is disrupted with trials and difficulties. Even as I’ve been studying this passage our house flooded, and we have been faced with some financial trials…and I panicked…I prayed, but I panicked – highly stressed, lack of sleep…not rejoicing. But with a few weeks of calm now and a week meditating on this passage I think I’m processing life a little better.
I see my trials bringing about the formation of Jesus’ character in my personality and temperament. I really feel a change! Small as it may be, I’m being reminded to be like Jesus as a “participant in the sufferings of Christ.” Don’t get me wrong. I still struggle to see that my personal life has any participation in the grand work of God’s Kingdom or suffering process of Christ, but I’m getting a clearer picture…
I’m seeing that life’s hard times have reason and rhyme behind them. I see trials as God‘s tools to continue the purification process that He began at the moment of my salvation. “Judgment begins first with the family of God” (v17), God judges my character and chips away at my stubborn sin. And when the world judges my motives and actions, if I respond with Christ-centeredness, some will find God’s grace. And when my accuser judges me, doing all he can to stop the flow of the “Spirit of glory and of God” (v13) that rest on me, he will come up empty in his accusations because of the work of Jesus in my life. So, I can see how our painful trials are mysteriously putting our lives as followers of Jesus as first in line on the docket of the Heavenly Judiciary so that some in the watching world around us may turn to Christ and “obey the gospel of God” (v17).
So, maybe now I won’t see the hardships of life as “strange” occurrences any more…maybe I will smile and even be filled with a little excitement about what God is doing with my pain…maybe with this reality of God’s Kingdom purpose being played out in small doses in my life, I will be able to do what Peter says at the end of this passage and trust God — commit my whole self into the hands of my “faithful Creator and continue to do good” (v 19). After all, He is The Creator. He made it all. He knows all the ends and outs of my existence because He made it all…AND He is faithful – He will keep His promises, He will honor those who honor Him…He will not allow hell or high water to snatch me or any of His children out of His hands.
A Prayer…
Father,
Give me your perspective in the midst of the storm. Give me wisdom to steer clear of self-centered thinking that causes me to suffer for my own poor choices, and keep me in the center of Your battle for souls. And if that means that life’s inconsistencies brings trial for a time, help me to trust You completely…I need You Lord…I see that clearly. Amen.