Faith through turmoil

1 Peter 1

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Even though we all know we will go through trials in our christian walk, It never seems to make them any easier. I'm going through some personal trials right now, and I feel the devil trying to get me to turn away from the bible and God for answers. It's so easy to just go talk to someone who you can see, but It takes faith to talk to someone you don't see.

I praise the Lord though that I have come to a point in my walk with God, that I know the wisdom I need to get through this trial is just a prayer and bible verse away. I researched trials this morning and came up with the above verses. Paraphrased, they basically say that we have eternal joy in Christ, but we will also have trials to see where we will turn for comfort. Trials test our faith. It says the proven genuineness of your faith is worth more than gold, so I see that getting through the trials while keeping focused on God's will is the hope that God has for us.

I guess this is when God tests a christians faith, for we have no way to no what we will do in a bad situation until one is given to us. It's interesting when the verse says "though for a little while you may have to suffer grief of all kinds of trials". Sometimes we think our trials are long lasting and never ending, but if you look at this life with an eternal perspective you realize that if we suffered our whole life here on earth, it would still just be a dot on the eternal timeline.

So this morning I tell you and myself," Steve (you), we are promised an eternity of peace and joy and thanksgiving with our Lord and Saviour, we are also promised to have trials that will only grow our faith in God if we allow it to." Take any trial that you may be going through and use it to glorify God. Let Christ's love flow through you and show in you. Once you get through it your faith and walk with God will be even stronger.

Prayer.............

Father allow me to grow from my current trial. Allow me to gain wisdom from it for my future. Please allow me to keep it in eternal perspective and know that this life is just a blimp on the radar of eternity. Thank you for loving me enough to send your Son Jesus to die on the cross for me. Thank you for the conviction that I received June of 2008. Thank you that because of what Jesus did for me , I was allowed to repent and be saved from eternal Hell. Father. I just want my life to matter for your kingdom.

1 ¹ Peter, a postle of Jesus Christ,