You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9
I will let you in on a secret: I can sprint easily if I know that sprint will last less than five minutes. You see, knowing that the pain caused by the sprinting is only temporary, I can face it without much frustration or complaining. I just keep thinking to myself, "This will be over soon." It's not just sprinting, though. I can endure almost any pain as long as I know it will not last long. You see, when I know the pain I am facing is temporary, my focus is in the right place.
All week we have been acknowledging that God is able to do big things in our lives. As we talk about His power, ability, and willingness to work on our lives, we must answer the question, "What do we do when we don't get the miracle we've been asking for, or God does not do the thing we have been begging God to do?" One thing that is very clear, we must look at our lives in light of eternity. You see, when looking at the pain you and I face in the world, as devastating and debilitating as it is, Scripture teaches us that this world will be over before we know it, and we have a greater future waiting for us if we know Christ. Sometimes, in our pain, what we need is a perspective shift. 1 Peter 1 provides this shift that we need, reminding us of the salvation that we have waiting for us in eternity.
1 Peter 1 tells us that in this life, we can expect trials and hard times. But these trials, Peter writes, will only last "for a little while" (verse 4). They only last for a second in light of eternity. And, for those who follow and trust in Jesus, they have salvation and life with God forever to look forward too. No matter what we are facing, these verses in 1 Peter teach us that what we have waiting for us is "glorious, inexpressible joy" (verse 8). This, my friends, is what we are to fix our eyes on when we face difficulties and hardships. We focus on the inexpressible joy waiting for us.
My friend, I'm not sure what you are facing today. Whatever hardship or trial you are going through, may I encourage you to focus on the inexpressible joy waiting for you if you are a follower of Christ? The pain you are currently facing is only momentary. This inexpressible joy is for eternity. This is the hope we have in Him.
So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.
The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? And also,
“If the righteous are barely saved,
what will happen to godless sinners?”
So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
