Tests and Trials

March 2, 2011

Read I Peter 1:3-9

I Peter 1:7
These (trials) 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.

I learned the following song when I was a youth and I still sing it when life gets difficult.

“God never moves without purpose or plan,
When trying His servant or moulding a man.
Give thanks to the Lord when your testing seems strong,
In darkness He gives us a song.

Chorus
O rejoice in the Lord – He makes no mistake
He knows the way of the path that I take,
For when I am tried and purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

I could not see through the shadows ahead,
So I look to the cross of my Saviour instead.
I bow to the will of my Master that day,
Peace came – and tears fade away.”

Just as gold can only be refined through fire, our motives and desires can only be purified through trials. Just as all the dross of gold must be burnt in the fiery furnace, all that hinders our capacity to become more like Christ must be destroyed through the testings of life.

Are you going through a difficult time right now? Turn your eyes to God and remember
1.There is hope. Jesus sets a new rule when He died and rose again. No situation is hopeless. No hopeless situation is final. (v 3)
2.It could be worse but God has protected you (v 5)
3.There will be an end to the testing/trial (v6)
4.This is a test of your faith from God (v 7)
5.The bottom-line of your test is ‘Do you love him even when He seems absent during this time?” (v8-9)

“A man is lost when honor, truth, and character are gone; but when faith has gone, he has suffered the greatest lost.” - Anon