This devotional was written by Jim Burns
In 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 Your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. —1 Peter 1:6,7
There is no doubt that you will experience trials in your Christian life. Some new Christians mistakenly believe that being a Christian means living a life free of hassles and struggles. God never promised us freedom from trials; He promised us that He would walk with us through the trials and help us to endure our hardships. No one looks forward to trials, but trials can produce a stronger faith. You can withstand anything that comes if you remember that every trial is actually a test. Before gold is pure it must be tested in the fire. The trials which come your way will test your faith, and out of your struggles your faith can emerge stronger than it ever was before.
The rigors which the athlete has to undergo are not meant to make him collapse but to help him develop strength and staying power. For the Christian, our trials are not meant to take the strength out of us, but to put the strength into us. Endurance through trials produces strength.
GOING DEEPER:
- Reread 1 Peter 1:6,7. What effect do trials have on our faith?
- Are you experiencing trials right now in your life? You have a choice of how to deal with them: you can let them get you down or you can see them as a way to test and strengthen your faith. How will you deal with your trials?
4 comments:
I always like the comparison the sports. As I have said many times before, our walk is like a ultra ironman. The difference I am realizing now, is that it is not a solo act, so maybe its more like a team adventure race. Anyway, you get my point, we are all going to face things we can not handle alone and I am blessed to know that I have so many brothers out there to jump in.
Blessing
cas
Great devo for today, as we think about tonight's "Life After Crisis" men's event (for those of you who attend CCC).
A prayer request for a friend (Ruick) I am bringing tonight, who is not a believer. He lost his leg in a construction accident this summer. He seems to be doing quite well, but has no foundation of faith. Pray that God speaks to Ruick through Dan and Pete tonight and he is encouraged and made curious.
tba
i dont know why, but when the real big trials hit, i get so cloudy. i want to run to God, and i do, but sometimes, i am just so emotional about the situation that i dont let God in. I am going through a situation like that now. i know God is with me, and He is holding my hand, but i seem to be missing him. last night i read Psalm 23 - one of my favs - and that seemed to help. maybe i just need to keep reading it and letting it soak in.
i appreciate your prayers.
I was thinking about the poem Footprints while reading this one. And as Clark said, this is an endurance race but we walk hand in hand with God.
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