Trials and Tribulations
1 Peter 1:3-9 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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 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. In this you greatly rejoice, 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. 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.
Why does our Lord allow us to go through such terrible trials during our lives? We know without a doubt that He loves us because He sent Jesus to die because He loved us so much. Wait a minute…He sent Jesus to die….Jesus suffered greatly, both physically and mentally/emotionally during that time. That is the most painful death anyone could ever go through, and yet His loving Father not only “allowed” it, it was His Will! How did the Lord deal with this? What does the bible have to say about this?
Hebrews 5:7-8 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
Hebrews 12:2-4 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
We are told that Jesus learned obedience because of his sufferings and trials. He didn’t try to get around His Father’s will for Him, nor did He complain and grumble about it. Instead, He endured all His trials, right up to and including death on a cross for us. How did He endure it all though? I can’t even imagine (and don’t want to) what He went through for us! He did it all because of the joy set before Him. He knew that He would soon be with the Father again and sitting on His throne. More importantly He knew that because of His obedience that now we would be able to join Him in heaven. We’ve discussed the fact that the joy of the Lord is our strength too in other studies so I won’t cover that again here.
This weeks promise: God promises to fill you with joy!
If Jesus Himself had to go through trials and suffering, then why would we expect to get through our lives without them? Especially if we are really God’s children? We cannot have it both ways. Either we believe that God loves us and that we are born again and now His children or we don’t. If we really are born again then God Himself assures us that He will discipline us because He really does love us.
Revelation Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
God’s word tells us in the passage from 1 Peter that our trials and suffering cause our faith to be strengthened and deepened proving the reality of our faith. This then is so we can “know” and not just “believe”. These trials prove that our faith is genuine and not some counterfeit. It proves to all who know us that we are indeed born again and saved for eternity. In turn, this brings glory to the Father.
