Our Present Suffering is Only for a While (1 Peter 1:6-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2017 6:01 PM

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  Our Present Suffering is only for a While

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Peter 1:6

            Message of the verse:  “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.” 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes the following short paragraph under this sub-section:  “Our various trials are only ‘for a season’ (1 Peter 1:6), but the glory that results is eternal.  Paul had this same thought in mind when he wrote 2 Corinthians 4:17—‘These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent, glorious, and solid reward out of all proportion to our pain’ (PH).”

            I find it very interesting that in my morning devotions from John MacArthur’s devotional Bible that we covered the same verse from 1 Peter 1:6-7 “6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7 ESV).”

            MacArthur writes “Although some Christians fear that trials and persecutions can only rob them of their joy.  Peter taught just the opposite.  In fact, he said that joy comes not in spite of trouble but because of trouble.  That’s because it’s easy to lose your joy if you doubt your salvation; but when your faith has been tested and proven to be genuine, doubts will disappear, and you’ll have joy and assurance.

“Every trial you face is designed to test and perfect your faith, and God carefully controls their parameters to accomplish that purpose.  Verse 6 specifies that they are temporary, necessary, distressing, and multi-faceted, but they should never diminish your joy.  He won’t allow you to undergo more than you can bear (1 Cor. 10:13).

“Peter used the analogy of an assayer or goldsmith to illustrate the purging process that produces proven faith (v. 7).  The fire symbolizes trials, and the gold symbolizes your faith.  Just as the refiner’s fire burns away the dross and leaves only pure gold, so God purges you through trials in order to reveal the purity of your faith.

“That’s an appropriate analogy because gold was the most precious of metals and the standard for all monetary transactions.  But as valuable as gold is, proven faith is infinitely more precious. Gold is temporal and perishable; proven faith is eternal.

“So don’t fear trials when they come your way.  Welcome them as opportunities to prove that your faith is real.  Be encouraged that ‘after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you’ (1 Peter 5:10).

7/28/2017 6:20 PM