Today, we return to our study of 1 Peter where the Apostle Peter provides us with a blueprint on how to handle suffering. He did this for the recipients of this letter who had been enduring persecution due to their obedience to the God of the Bible. Persecution ensures that the very things that we tend to trust in the most like comfort and ease and affluence and prosperity and safety and freedom becomes less of a crutch for the believer. When these crutches are removed, we discover what is really real, and we invest accordingly.
In today's passage, the Apostle makes the point that all of our trials potentially produce at least one purpose. In addition to getting us to investing in the really real, our trials serve to create a roadway into the hearts of those upon whom we have influence. In today's passage we learn of the two things which we must have in order to growth in our faith in the God of the Bible. This faith is best described as our heart's ability to see God.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
Today's passage begins with: "In all this..." The word "this" modifies "the suffering" mentioned in the previous verses. When we come to understand the purpose behind our troubles, we will inevitably rejoice because the presence of God is magnified in and through our lives. According to Romans 10:17, when we hear with our hearts the spoken word of God, the other ingredient to a growing faith is brought to bare in our lives. When out of our trials we turn to God, we will experience the purpose of our trials which is a heightened awareness of His presence which is designed to enable our faith to grow even stronger than we ever thought it could be.
The Apostle ends v.6 with "all kinds of trials." In the KJV we read, "manifold trials" which when literally translated reads, "many-colored trials." I find it very instructive that this same Greek word is also found in 1 Peter 4:10 where the adjective is applied to God's grace, "the manifold grace of God." When our trials are varied, God’s grace is just as varied. It is the amazing grace of God that gives us the power and the desire to do what pleases Him in the middle of the most tragic circumstances of our lives. And His grace is specifically designed to meet us right where our tragedy hits us.
The ultimate goal of it all is that we see Him in an increasing multifaceted way. The depth of our heart's to see God renders a knowledge of Him that is ever increasing. And, we will know Him most deeply due to our trials which drive us to Him in our times of our greatest need. I'm so glad God doesn't rescue me when I want to be rescued out of my trials because I would miss out on so much with Him.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
Our faith in the God of the Bible is much like our muscles, if we do not exercise them, they will not grow. In fact, unused faith will atrophy. This is the design of our troubles: they serve in pushing us into a deeper reality with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the trials are helpful in that. The key isn't just faith, the key is that the God of the Bible is the object of our faith. And our trials hone our heart's ability to see and hear God.
The Apostle Peter uses the metaphor of a refining fire. The purified gold is the product of the distress caused by intense heat. Similarly, suffering has the same effect on our faith in the God of the Bible. Our suffering enables us to see our utter inadequacy. It also enables us to see His utter adequacy. And, when we are let down enough by those inadequacies, it is then that we are granted the opportunity to place our lives more increasingly in the hands of our adequate heavenly Father. When we are overwhelmed and cry out to Him for help, we discover His presence and His involvement in the details of our lives. We eventually will notice even a design to our trials and our troubles.
Our suffering deepens our appreciation for the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. Like gold that is refined by the intense heat of fire, we will embrace a disposition that will be less self absorbed and more dependent upon the One who has our best interest at heart. When we withdraw from Him due to these intense fiery trials, we limit our heart's ability to see and experience Him for ourselves. And, as a result, we forfeit the opportunity to learn His definitions of things and we will not be trained in His culture.
C. S. Lewis once eloquently said: "Pain plants the flag of truth in the fortress of a rebel soul." A jeweler knows if the gold that he holds is real or fake by placing it in a fire. Our faith is no different. A faith that cannot be tested by intensity is a faith that cannot be trusted. So, God puts it through the fire in order to strengthen it. God is not out to burn us; He is always out to bless us. But sometimes those blessings are disguised in trials.
And the result of it all will be magnified when the Lord Jesus is revealed. In that moment we will see that every ounce of the unwanted trials and troubles that came into our live had purpose. In that moment we will praise, glorify and honor the Lord Jesus. These three words reveal something that is far more precious than the gold and the diamonds of this world. These three words, praise, glory and honor are words of worship. When He is revealed we will be so enthralled with Him that we will break out in intense worship. The beauty of it all will be in the recognition that our trials and troubles and persecutions prepared our hearts for the explosions of praise and worship that we will render in that moment. It will be a crescendo moment that will not be paralleled by any other.
