Remember, if God wants you to suffer, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong!
1 Peter 3: 17 (LB)
Scripture: 1 Peter 4: 12-19
A lot of times we think that, if we are forced to go through a trial, it is God punishing us. The degree of the trial determines the degree of our screw-up. This devotion discusses whether all trials are punishment.
We don’t always care for consequences. Many times when we are experiencing trials, we think they are the consequences of a sin we have committed.
But what if we don’t think we have sinned? What if we think we are following God’s will? And we still get decked with a trial!
It doesn’t help when we feel like everyone is watching us, wondering why we are being punished. We think we have friends like Job had. Remember Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar (Job 2: 11)? They were trying to get Job to admit his sin. They wouldn’t believe him when he said he had not sinned.
Tug of War
So, it becomes a battle in our minds. On the one hand, we think the trials are punishment for sin. On the other hand, we think God has gone back on His side of the bargain by not making our lives smooth sailing. When we become believers, isn’t He supposed to make everything wonderful for us?
To read What Does “All Things Work Together for Good” Really Mean?, click the button below.
Remember the song, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden? Neither did God.
In fact, Jesus warned the disciples, that things weren’t always going to be on the easy road. “And you will be hated by all on account of My Name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Mt. 10: 22 NASB). Jesus made it sound like it would get worse, not better, being a child of God.
Even though Jesus warned us, we still think our lot in life will be free of these trials because we are His children. But we forget we can be tested to prove we are His. “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 1: 6-7 NASB).
Satan wants to get us back on his side of the ledger. If he thinks he can get us to renounce God, he will try everything in his arsenal to get that done. Sometimes, the trials prove to him – and us – that we truly are children of God.
Besides, if we were just put through trials as punishment, we wouldn’t feel any sense of accomplishment. “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God” (I Pet. 2: 20 NASB). Our faith is strengthened when we go through the hard times and come out closer to God.
No, we don’t like going through trials; and sometimes, we would just like to hide them from everyone else. “But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name let him glorify God” (I Pet. 4: 16 NASB) Yes, we’re supposed to shout “hallelujah” while we are going through the trial. Won’t that help us make it through?
Faithful Creator. Here we go again. Yet this time, it is not You punishing us. It is our faith being tested. Help us to stand firm. Help us rejoice, that we have “… been considered worthy to suffer …” (Acts 5: 41 NASB) for Your Name. Most of all, help us through so we can be a credit to You. Amen.
What do you think? What ways can we stand firm when our faith is being tested? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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