To Encourage You

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

How should we react when trouble comes into our lives?  We are so often stunned when misfortune comes our way.  “Why me?” or “Why this?” are often some of the first thoughts that enter our minds. Don’t you agree?  Conversely, as we read the words from 1 Peter 4 above, it should occur to us that the questions that should come to us in the face of the fiery trials of life are “Why NOT me?” and “Why NOT this?” In other words, why should we think that difficult things should be more prevalent in someone else’s life than in ours?  That’s one of the things my father and I have talked about on our many trips to Geisinger Medical Center since his cancer diagnosis 12 years ago. During those visits we’ve both been exposed to a multitude of very ill people, including many little children. We often remark that no matter when we go there the parking lots are always full.  So much sickness and suffering in this fallen world. It’s a fact that touches every one of us sooner or later.  So, as Peter tells us, when suffering comes to your door, don’t be surprised as if something strange was happening to you.  

More specifically, Peter is talking about the suffering that is the lot of Christians.  To hear some preachers tell it, once one becomes a Christian, most of life’s problems should be over!  In “your best life now” kind of thinking, it should be the exception for a Christian to suffer, rather than our common lot.  But how counter to the truth of God’s Word is such a message. In fact, it can often be the Christian’s experience that suffering INCREASES rather than decreases after they believe!  In fact, suffering comes to many people precisely BECAUSE they have believed.  Many have died as martyrs over the centuries simply because they had placed their faith in Christ and refused to turn against Him when the pressures came. Many are suffering in places like the prisons of North Korea and Eritrea at the hands of those who hate the Lord Jesus.  Others are suffering directly at the hands of Satan himself as they, like Job, are attacked in a multitude of ways as a result of their faithfulness to Christ. So, Peter tells us, don’t be surprised by this.  Remember that Christ Himself suffered at the hands of sinners.  In fact, “He was in all points tempted (the word also means tested) like we are” (Hebrews 4:15).  Yet, unlike us, His response was never one of sin, and as Peter tells us earlier in his letter, it’s Jesus’ desire for us that we should follow His example: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

So, if you are passing through deep waters at this moment, is that your mindset?  Do you realize that God is superintending every part of your suffering, and He has a great purpose in it?  Do you have the attitude of the Old Testament saint Joseph, who professed to his brothers who had brought so much hardship into his life, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20)?  And from the New Testament we have the wonderful promise that “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  And “all things” means “all things,” including the fiery trial through which you may be passing right now.