3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
What's your "suffering temperature" today, dear one? Are you finding yourself somewhere where you've never been before, overwhelmed and in despair? Do you feel that God can't possibly be hearing your prayers because you haven't heard His voice yet or any sign of relief? We are studying a great book for you then. Since 1 Peter is a letter to God's people who are suffering, the theme verses in this passage today are verses 6-7, "...though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." However, before we can really understand these verses, we need to start at the beginning of this passage. I pray that today you would be able to open your hands heaven-ward, and begin to lay down whatever burdens you may be carrying at the feet of Jesus. Let's dig in...
Verse 3 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!" Now there's something we can learn from Peter. He begins with PRAISE. That is so hard for us to do at times! I think to myself, "well, God doesn't deserve my praise because he's not answering me." Oh my, how I feel shameful for the times I thought this. We are not God, my friend. It is God who is sovereign over all things and who makes everything work together. In these moments, I'm sure God wants to say to me what He said to Job, "Where were you, [Molly,] when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me if you understand. Who marked off it's dimensions? While the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" (parts of Job 38:4-7). Surely, I cannot do these things! Only God can. He has the most power and authority...that alone is worth praising Him for. Let us always approach God remembering our place -- in submission to Him.
But then look at the next sentence -- yes, our God is powerful, more than we could ever comprehend. But this God, who can do anything He wants, decided that He wanted to have your love because He already loves you so much. However, He wasn't going to command it from you, because that's not really love, so look at what He chose to do: "In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you..." He made a way to save you from your sin and imperfection, because nothing but perfection can be in God's presence because He is perfect in everything. But He wanted YOU to be with Him, so He made a way that it could happen...Jesus. And not only that, but the place where you get to be with Him will "NEVER perish, spoil or fade" -- it's forever! When standing next to a God who created the entire world just with His voice, we can see how unworthy we are...do you sense that? Oh Lord, help me to always keep this in perspective. I am not God, and I don't have control...but You do.
And you may say, 'but what if I live for another 70 years...that's a long time before I get to get away from this pain?" That may be true, from our perspective, but another gift God has given you comes next in verse 5. We "who through faith are shielded by God’s power..." In the meantime, while we live on this Earth, God himself is going to protect us with His power...and according to what we read in Job, we know that He has a LOT of power. And how do we get this special protection? Through faith. Believing and trusting in Christ while we live out our days here on earth. He knows that you may have times of doubt, but CHOOSE to believe and ask Him for the ability to believe because 1 Cor. 12:9 tells us that the Holy Spirit can give us faith!
"For a little while" is such a comforting phrase to us in verse 6! It means that the season you find yourself in has an end point. We do not know what that end point is, but we know it will not last forever. If the season is you find yourself in has been dragging on for years, or perhaps you are facing a terminal illness that you know will not end this side of heaven, my heart is heavy for you. We do not know why some people experience seasons that don't end on earth, but they will end, my friends! Meanwhile, here on earth, we wait, "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies" (2 Cor. 5:1-3).
Verse 6 also tells us that we will suffer "all kinds of trials" so we can't think that the one we are experiencing now will be the only hard thing we might face in this life. We shouldn't be surprised when something else happens and say, "well, I already have suffered a lot" because we are told right here that there will be many! We need to live with the expectation that we will suffer here. In recent years, I have learned that I have kept waiting for everything to pan out, and when things were easy, I thought that was the "norm" for my life, and that I would occasionally have something difficult to work through. When in fact, the opposite is true! We will face many trials in this life, and way fewer seasons of "ease" than of pain, so when we are in a season that seems easy and calm, be thankful! It will NOT last forever. If we can live with this expectation, then we will not be surprised when bad things come, and we can all the more appreciate the good seasons! This is not Heaven, but we will be there soon. This, I have found, is a much better perspective on this life.
And then the big question...why? Why does God even allow these things to happen to us? Verse 7 says very plainly, "These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." Isn't it assuring to know that there IS a purpose? God did not set the world in motion and then leave it to fend for itself. These trials are for the purpose that your faith may be proved genuine. And this is a big deal! Faith is a big deal to God -- it's worth more than gold. He wants to know if you are genuine, real, and pure in your love for Him. He wants to see if you're walking the walk and not just talking the talk. Does that sound like He's just using you as a puppet for His own pleasure? He absolutely is not. He loves us so much, that He does not let anything happen to you that hasn't been sifted through His hand. "We know that in ALL things, God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). The result is that YOU, will receive praise, glory and honor when Christ comes back! He sees your pain, and He knows how hard it is. But He promises a reward for those who persevere. But you don't have to wait until Heaven for all of the reward: "...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Rom. 5:3-5). You will reap rewards on this side of Heaven as you continue to persevere, and one of those rewards may even be a stronger faith! I know it has been for me.
What does faith look like? Verses 8-9 describe it well: "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."
Or as the Message puts it: "You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to: total salvation."
He hasn't abandon you, dear one. He is still right beside you, leading you in the direction He wants to take you in order to make you more like Himself. Will you walk through this fire with him? Surrender your life and this season to Him, and then watch your "suffering temperature" fall as you rest in His grace and guidance.
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