THE TRIAL OF OUR FAITH

1 Pet. 1:6-8

Morning Meditations, 6/8/17

Dealing with afflictions will be the subject of our thoughts this morning. What about the person who is afflicted? Or, the person who lives with a person who is afflicted? How can I maintain my walk with the Lord in this situation?

This situation can be a refining fire. It is a trial of faith. Peter says in his first epistle chapter one and verses 6- 8, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:”

The rejoicing here is not in the trials. It is in the fact that we have an inheritance that is incorruptible that is reserved for us in heaven; it is the fact that we are kept by the power of God so that there is not the slightest chance that we will not get to that inheritance. That is something to rejoice in. That is what we look forward to. But what about right now?

Well, right now we are in heaviness through many different kinds of trials. This is life. We are not guaranteed as believers that we will not experience life as others of the human race. We catch colds, we are subject to diseases and suffer afflictions. This is a part of life. Prov. 15:31says, “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.”We need to learn all the lessons that our situation in life is designed to teach us.

Just remember this. Jesus is with you. You do not have to seek Him. He is right there. If He is there, and you go off in some other directions seeking Him, you won’t find Him. And your pursuit will be fruitless. If He has to prove He is there by removing the affliction in you or your loved one, you may develop bitterness derived from your belief that He is not near you or He would do something about your situation.

Faith is what makes His unseen presence real to your personal experience. Remember this. Peter said “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” The trying of our faith is to Him more precious than Gold. If that is how He sees it, we can commit it to Him by faith and say, “Lord, as you were with Job in the past, be with me and strengthen me to honor you in this situation. Make this situation a learning experience for me and for others as they see what is happening to me.”

Peter then brings a very important truth before those to whom he is writing: “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Peter says, “You do not see Him but He is there. You may feel forsaken in the fiery trial through which you are passing, but He is there.” How is His unseen presence made real to my experience in the midst of this trial? Peter says, “Yet believing.” Faith is the sense of perception that gives us the capacity to fellowship with the Christ though He is unseen. There is not other way. He will not prove His presence by healing. You say, “He has proven His presence to me in healing before.” I doubt that. I believe that to someone He was real by faith before you saw the miracle of healing.

Then Peter tells us where the joy comes from. He says, “Yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” The joy is not in the trials. It is in perceiving His presence with us in the midst of the trials; it is knowing that we are not in it alone. He is with us.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been disappointed that they ones for whom I was praying continued unchanged in their affliction. Frankly, it was a fiery trial to me. I could either get bitter because God would not answer the prayer as I had prayed or submit to His infinite wisdom and say, “Not my will but thine be done.” There have been many times when I didn’t get what I asked for, I equated it with His absence. He just wasn’t there. Or, there is something wrong with me. There is sin in my life. I am not believing enough. And those things could certainly be true. But I am talking about praying after thorough self examination. Then I discovered the truth that you can’t be more right with God that the blood of Christ makes you. When we confess known sins and take His forgiveness, we are as right as the blood can make a saved sinner. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Then the Lord brought me back to His way. His way is: “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5). That could be paraphrased: “I will never, no never, never under any condition, never forsake thee.” He is with me. He is still there. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

To maintain my walk with the Lord in the midst of affliction, I must keep my eyes on Him and not be distracted by the affliction. Remember, God is sovereign. We can trust Him to be right and do right. He has a plan that He is working out. Love Him and fellowship with Him as this takes place. He can remove it. He may or may not. But issue is not the affliction. The issue is our trust in Him and our fellowship with Him.. He may be using this as an object lesson to someone else. He will not fail us.

God bless these words to your heart.

In Christ

Earl White