Can you really be grateful for trials?

3 minute read

Trials and hardship are inevitable because this world is a) broken and b) not our home.

As a believer in Christ, you are a FOREIGNER passing through to heaven. You do not es-speaka-da-language of the world. So stop trying to speak it!

Think about it: 

In our flesh, we continue to try to make earth = heaven, and as a result, we are endlessly disappointed. We’re all suffering in one way or another because our souls long for a perfection that can (and will!) ONLY be found in Christ Jesus when we are finally with Him forever. 

So don’t dismiss the longing for a better life - your longing is justified and will be fulfilled. DO dismiss the belief it will be fulfilled here on earth. Yes there will be joy, yes there will be mountaintops, yes there will be happy days with the Fonz, but these are but a taste of what’s to come. 

Our trials can teach us so, SO much if we start viewing them through the lens of eternity, and when we do this, we really can be grateful for them.

1 Peter 1:3-7 tells us a whole lot about trials and how God, in His grace, intends them for our benefit.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance — an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Our perspective has to start with the cross: We deserve death. But God, IN HIS GREAT MERCY, has given us a new life through Jesus. THIS is our hope! THIS is our great expectation! We deserve NOTHING yet He’s promised us everythinnnnng in eternity as His children. He protects us through trials. He strengthens us through trials. He even intends our endurance of them for future glory.

Notes scribbled in the margins of my Bible from various sermons on this passage include:

Living hope is Jesus and His word. Living hope grows; dead-end earthly hope diminishes.

The reason for trials:

1. Could be to prepare for future ministry 
2. Could be discipline (He disciplines those He loves)
3. Could be preventative to going further into sin

He won’t keep us in trial longer than needed — it has an end. 

Trials are inevitable! But let them teach us to submit in faith.

In trials, ask Him “What are you teaching me?” vs. “How do I get out of this?”

When I can’t see His hand, trust His heart.

Trials hit me harder when I look at them through a worldly perspective, and lately I’ve been convicted of doing so. This last line really stuck out to me this week, and I was led to ask God, “What does Your heart look like?” 

Here’s what the Spirit led me to write:

God’s heart is clear, unmuddied, purposeful, intentional, aware, sincere… He’s not just throwing us in the sea without a care, watching us squirm, busy with something else. His hand is on my shoulder. He is before and behind us. Every.single.thing.He.allows. is on purpose, for a purpose.

With the appropriate view of His heart I could then ask Him, What are you teaching me?, and I don’t have to be scared of the answer because I know it’s for our good and His glory.

In asking Him this question, I realize He’s teaching me that deep down in my heart of hearts, I’m not buying what He’s selling… err giving rather. A lot of the time, I don’t believe His eternal promises and fruits are more valuable than the worldly things I want now. I want ease, comfort, affirmation, adoration, acceptance by the world’s definition.

Maybe you can relate?

When I look at His heart and listen to the Holy Spirit’s convictions, I realize how blinded I am to the good LASTING gifts all around me. When my perspective of trials shifts from the here and now to the forever, I start to see the gift of discomfort and struggle and how much it FORCES me to lean into the only hands that can hold me up.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of days I want to throw in the towel. I want to quit. It’s hard to trust a God I cannot see. It’s hard to hope in a life beyond this world. I want it now! But without these trials, where would I be running? What is He protecting me from that I cannot even see? What is He preparing me for?

Closing with two quotes and another word from Peter to hopefully take us all into the week one degree closer to an eternal perspective on our trials:

“For non-believers, earth is as close to heaven as they will get. For believers, earth is as close to hell as we will get.” (Google tells me Randy Alcorn said this, but I don’t know for sure!)

“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.” - Spurgeon (Thanks LJ for this one).

1 Peter 1:13-14

“So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.”

Father God, you are a good, loving God. Your heart is so pure and protective and patient. Oftentimes, we miss this. We get consumed with what the world says is valuable. Thank you for the blessings you give us! Please forgive us for when we want the blessings of the here and now  more than we want your heart. Thank you for our trials. Thank you for teaching us and helping us grow through them. Will you give us a heart to trust you and a willingness to receive your trials as an opportunity to turn to you? When thoughts get dark or life gets hard, help us think clearly. Help us exercise self-control. Protect us from the enemy! We know better than to run into our old selves and our old habits - remind us of this please! Remind us of the great expectation we have in Jesus! In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Suggested Scripture for the Week:

S/M: 1 Peter 1:3; How does the term “great expectation” make you feel?

T: 1 Peter 1:4; What do you think the term “priceless inheritance” means?

W: 1 Peter 1:5; Has there been a time when a trial has protected you from something?

Th: 1 Peter 1:6-7; Do you believe your faith is more precious than gold?

F: 1 Peter 1:13; Can you envision what it might look like to put ALL your hope in Jesus when (not if) a trial comes your way this week?

S: 1 Peter 1:14; What are old ways you are ready to move on from slipping back into? What triggers you to slip into them? What changes can you make this week to help you stand firmly against them?