I want to continue looking at the 1 Peter today by examining one of the things that makes Christians different from the rest of the world: faith. Everyone in the world has to have some level of faith, even in things they don’t fully understand. I have faith when I get on an airplane that it will take me where I’m going, even though I have only basically no understanding of how airplanes work. Its really easy to have faith in something when things are going your way, but when things are difficult our faith tends to waver. If you’ve had a bad experience on an airplane you’re much less likely to want to fly again. In fact, there are a couple of airlines I won’t fly because I’ve had bad experiences with them. When things get difficult our faith can waver. This is where Christians are called to be different. Even when life is extremely difficult we are called to faithfully trust God. We don’t switch religions like we would switch airlines, but we remain faithful amidst adversity. Why? Why do we keep trusting God even when things seem to be decidedly not going our way?
You, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:5-7
First things first: remember that sin, suffering, death, and the multitude of problems in this world are the result of human sin. God didn’t create this world to be a place of suffering, He created it to be amazing. We’ve messed that all royally up. Yet, despite our mess-up, God came to our rescue. He chose to come to earth as Jesus, suffering and dying as a sacrifice for all our sins. See, God is always focused on the big picture of our lives. God may not take away every difficult you face, but He has already assured that your ETERNITY is perfect. The good news is not that God saves us from all of our trials, but that he saves us from all of our sins. We get up everyday, even in times of extreme difficult, and take joy in the fact that God has already done it all for us. We can never truly fail, we can never truly be rejected, we can never truly die, because we have been given eternal life. Men, get up every morning and rejoice! Rejoice that no matter what difficulties may lay ahead that day the ultimate difficult, death, has already been taken care of for you. That’s a different sort of faith, and it leads to a different and much more joyful life.
