One of the mysterious paradoxes of our relationship with God is that as His followers we can experience unspeakable joy and severe hardship, both at the same time. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that we will.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” (1 Peter 1:6)
We don’t like that aspect of our faith, but it’s non-negotiable. To understand the mercy of Jesus is to painfully understand the brokenness of this world. And as those who embrace The One who is at odds with the fallenness of this world, we set ourselves up for conflict. Those who reject God will reject us. Those who love sin will hate the definition of it from the Bible we follow. Those who are passionate about other religions will see our obsession for The Way, The Truth, and The Life as enemies. If we truly believe and follow the God of The Bible, we will in some way suffer.
In fact, Peter elaborates on this theme later in his letter. He tells his readers not to be surprised at their ordeal – after all, it’s not strange that the followers of a crucified man should also suffer. More than that, he tells them to rejoice. It’s A Good Thing. Hardship for having faith in the living God means that His Spirit is with us. The trials are a blessing.
Remember that the next time you go through a hard time. “We must go through many hardships to enter The Kingdom of God,” the apostle Paul and Barnabas told the followers of Jesus (Acts 14:22). It wasn’t considered to be an abnormality. Pain is part of serving, following, and obeying God.
Romans 8:32 assures us that if God gave up His Son for us, we can count on the fact that He’s on our side. Even when life seems to argue against that point, faith tells us that it’s true. The God who made us, redeemed us, guides us, and loves us is God the Father of compassion and comfort.
Has that sunk in? As believers, we often assume that if all is right with God, all will be right and good for Us at all times in this world. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we really believe that, we haven’t read enough about Jesus, His disciples, or the apostle Paul. None of them had an easy time, yet all of them were obedient servants of God.
If we ‘re praying for God to get us out of a trial, let’s not give up on the possibility that He will. But let’s get more to the point: Let’s ask Him to strengthen us in the trial. And let’s rejoice in what the trial will bring, because when God is with us we will lack no good thing, ever.
Have a peace-filled weekend. Make it better by worshiping The LORD with those who know good things are always around the corner because they know Him as a good, good Father.
All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.
“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)
Vic Alvarado 