Be Found

A couple of weeks ago, I posted over at The Quiet Place blog. I wrote about WHY there is rejoicing in suffering. You can read it by clicking HERE.

Over the course of last week I ended up right back in the middle of that same section of verses. Only this time, God was showing me something else.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1: 3-9 (ESV)

I've been reminded that life on this earth is not easy. The consequences of sin are REAL and we all suffer for them. Sometimes, we even suffer for the sin that other people have committed.

That drunk driver that got into an accident? Maybe he ran over someone's mother. Now at least three families have to deal with the consequences of one man's recklessness.

That struggling teenager who just needs someone to care for her? Maybe she gets pregnant. Now you've got a little boy or girl who has to deal with the consequences of one girl's hopelessness.

Look at your life...Surely, you can identify some of sin's consequences that you're dealing with or causing others to deal with.

We can deal with all of this suffering that we humans bring on ourselves knowing that a day is coming when the dealing will be over. We will be with God and freed once and for all from the presence of sin. That day will be beautiful...

For now, we are here. Along with the presence of sin and its consequences, we have the promise of being guarded by God and made into the image of His Son, our Savior.

Do you realize what that means?

There's a little phrase in verse 6 that might help...Two little words brought a lot of clarity to my thinking, namely, that phrase "if necessary” that comes right before the mention of "trials".

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,  so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

This tells me that along with causing me to be born again to a living hope, raising Christ from the dead, giving me an inheritance (that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, and is being kept in heaven), and guarding me with His power through faith, God is also in control of the trials in my life.

“If necessary” really means, IF necessary. God knows better than any of us can ever hope to know and He’s doing better things than any of us can ever hope to accomplish!

Do you know what makes those trials “necessary”?  The testing and proving of the genuineness of your faith! If a trial is happening, however much it grieves you, you can TRUST that God is simply building you up even more in that faith that He gave you.
A faith that stands the tests of these trials that grieve us is a faith that came from God. It is a faith that is more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire.

To test gold and to refine it, we humans use fire. Gold is pretty much the most valuable thing to humans all over the world. When we know that it’s “the real deal”, we admire it, we hoard it, we buy it, and sometimes, we even flaunt it.

A day is coming when even that precious gold will pass away under the fire that comes from God. Our faith is not like gold. They are both tested and proved true (or not) now, but in the end, only our faith will not be burnt up.

Christian, the fire is here. The trials are grievous. Know that your faith, your salvation, and your trials are all gifts of God that go together.

I don’t want the trials any more than you do, but knowing that they grieve me “if necessary” really helps!

God is working for your joy in Him and His glory in you! Rejoice! Your hope is being kept in heaven and your inheritance will not disappoint. As if that wasn’t enough, you have the resurrected Jesus Christ who has gone before you and is your living hope!

It’s the tested genuineness of your faith that will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of that Christ!

Your hope IS in God!