January 14, 2017 DO NOT BE SURPRISED
1 Peter 4:12-13: “Dear friends, don’t be surprise at the fiery trials that you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.” New Living Translation.
You got to be kidding---be very glad when we encounter fiery trials? These two verses go to the core of our faith and they expose our deepest feeling and thoughts about how we view trials. There are some believers who believe that if they experience trials and difficulties, it is because Satan is attacking them and if their faith is strong enough, the trials will cease, but that belief is simply not biblical; that is not to say that we should not ask for God to intervene and send relief, and we should rebuke Satan when he attacks. It is true that Satan wants to harm and discourage believers and he will try to do just that, BUT Satan can do only what God allows him to do. If our attention and focus is on the trial, and not on what God is doing and how He will use the “fiery trial,” then we are out of focus spiritually. No one enjoys trials; God is not saying that we should look forward to trials and difficulties, and He is not a God who enjoys inflicting pain on His children; He is saying that He will bring blessings that we could not receive if we did not endure trials. It is true that we in the western world do not presently know the extent of persecution that the early believers experienced because of their faith in Christ; often, their faith cost them everything, and sometimes it cost them their life. The early believers counted it a joy to suffer for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41) because of their desire to share in His sufferings. A key point is that in enduring trials, we become partners with Christ in His suffering, and as partners, we will see His glory. We must not confuse suffering that comes as a result of our faith in Christ, with sufferings that come simply because of bad decisions we make or choosing to live contrary to the gospel. However, if our heart is turned to the Lord and we are walking in fellowship with Him, then we can find help and comfort in all trials, no matter their source; He is able to use our blunders and bad decisions for good. In life, we will have trials, but it does not mean that Satan is winning; it does mean that God is about His work in us, purifying us and preparing us to see His glory. Let us not be surprised by the trials that come our way, but let us respond in such a way that God is honored and we are overcomers in whatever we face, making us partners with Christ.
Philippians 3:10: “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
1 Peter2:20: “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Blessings,
Buddy
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