From Trial To Blessing

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come to test you, as though something strange has happened to you.

- The Apostle Peter, 1 Peter 4:12

Somehow, as Christ-followers, we have come to believe that being a Christian means we are exempt from bad things happening to us. Unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble.” My grandfather, Dan Ingold, put it this way, “From the day you are born until you ride in a hearse, nothing is so bad that it can’t get worse.”

While that sounds extremely dour, it is the nature of the world we live in. The world does not care if we are a Christ-follower or not. It will continue to throw pain and suffering at us regardless of our faith.

Jesus did not promise us a rose garden in this life. Well, maybe He did, for every rose bush is filled with thorns.

The good news is that Jesus promised us He would be with us in the midst of our trials and suffering. He will never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and He will make us stronger through those trials. The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 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.”

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” James tells us in James 1:2-3, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

One person put it this way, and it brings me hope in the midst of the trial:

“God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.”

- Unknown

Pastor Ken

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