Rejoice In This
(1 minute, 26 seconds)
Today, my heart hurts over the collective suffering of several people for whom I care deeply. Unfortunately, my suffering friends have this in common: their afflictions are not the run-of-the-mill daily bummers that we all experience. Instead, they are each enduring trials that are excruciatingly, suffocatingly hard.
You may presently identify with this kind of deep grieving. If so, I’m very, very sorry.
1 Peter 1:6 talks about being “grieved by various trials” and how these trials test the genuineness of our faith in Jesus Christ. My friends that I alluded to above are all grieving, all being tested, and all, by the grace of God, still clinging to Jesus through their trials. Praise, glory, and honor are going to be the result of these immense hardships. I am confident of this.
The Bible says we can rejoice even during crushing trials.
It’s easier to rejoice before and certainly after trials, but DURING the problems of life? It is not only possible to rejoice in the pit of hard things; it is our instruction. With God’s help, by His grace, in 1 Peter, He tells us how.
“In this you rejoice though now for a little while…you have been grieved by various trials.” 1 Peter 1:6
We don’t rejoice in the trials themselves (come on, who would?!) What exactly is it that we are to rejoice in during trials?
The Bible tells us right before 1 Peter 1:6 (1:3-5) precisely what we are to rejoice in, yes, even smack in the middle of our trials:
-God’s great mercy applied to me (God’s Great Mercy)
-He caused me to be born again (New Birth)
-Mine is a living hope (Living Hope)
-The resurrection of Jesus Christ (Jesus’ Resurrection)
-An imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance (A Sure Inheritance)
-I am guarded through faith by God’s power (God’s Keeping Work)
-Salvation is mine through Jesus (Salvation)
This, THIS is what we rejoice in!
Personally, I need to commit this list to memory. Embedded within this Tiny Letter is a tiny challenge for you:
Copy and print the above list of “this” that we are to rejoice in, tape it above your workspace or wherever you will see it frequently, and memorize it with me.
The size of our trial, the length of our suffering, and the depth of our pain shouldn’t be the focus during our trials. The work of God on our behalf through Jesus Christ and ALL the unspeakable benefits of belonging to Him: in THIS we rejoice!
(photo: Kurt Elting-Ballard)