The Trial of Your Faith, Part 6

Today we will bring to conclusion this series of meditations on “the trial of your faith,” God willing.

When undergoing a hardship, we often fantasize of a miraculous deliverance.  Wouldn’t that make people believe, we think.  And, to be sure, Scripture indeed records accounts of those who received miraculous deliverance from suffering.  But this did not always make believers out of people.  Israel in the wilderness experienced many miraculous deliverances and yet perished in that wilderness because of unbelief.  Jesus wrought many miraculous deliverances and the world crucified Him.  In the light of this, we would do well to focus on the several accounts given in Scripture of those who received no miraculous deliverance from their tribulation in this life.  And notice that prepositional phrase in italics, in this life.  I’ll come back to that. But of those who received no miraculous deliverance we read this:

Hebrews 11:35  Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

We think of miraculous deliverances as mighty works of God, and indeed they are.  But we also need to realize that a faith that manifests itself in the midst of suffering without a miraculous deliverance is also a mighty work of God.  That these saints held fast to their holy faith in such afflictions as these was attributable to the mighty working of God in them.  You see, it takes the glorious power of God for us to patiently bear our trials as we see in Paul’s prayer for the believers at Colosse.

Colossians 1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness….

Those patient saints noted in Hebrews were strengthened with all might according to the glorious power of God.  Now that is a mighty work!  It is humbling to realize that it takes that kind of power for us to be patient.  And then Paul prayed this for the Thessalonian believers who were undergoing persecution:

2 Thessalonians 1:11  Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power….

You show me the work of faith, and I will show you the power of God.  And when God is fulfilling in you “the work of faith with power,” He is counting you worthy of His calling to eternal glory.  Can you think of anything you would rather be counted worthy of? 

And that brings us back to those suffering saints we read of in Hebrews 11.  In the midst of all that they suffered, they “obtained a good report through faith” even though they had not as yet received the promise.  They kept their sights on the future glory that God promised would be theirs and this sustained them through their present hardships.  Although they did not receive a miraculous deliverance in this life, they knew that such a deliverance awaited them in the next life.

2 Corinthians 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

When we are too focused on what we see in this world in the way of suffering and what would relieve it, we can be overwhelmed by our tribulation.  But when we focus on the great unseen things promised to those who love the Lord, then that puts the present tribulation into perspective and makes it more supportable.  This was the key to the great endurance of the suffering saints mentioned in Hebrews.

It all comes down to which you would rather have.  Would you rather have temporary suffering in this life with everlasting pleasure in the next life, or pleasure in this life with everlasting suffering in the next?  Consider what our Lord Jesus had to say about this:

Luke 6:20  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

21  Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.

22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

24  But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

25  Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

26  Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

It is much better to suffer now and be blessed than to have your ease now and be cursed.  Just remember these words of our Lord the next time you envy some wicked person who is prospering in the world while you are suffering as you follow Christ.  It may seem for the moment that your faith isn’t working and, therefore, is of little worth.  But eternity will reveal it to have been otherwise.  Just have patience.  It will pay off in the end.

Now you might wonder why you can’t have pleasure and ease in this life and in the next.  Well, in an unfallen world that would have been the case, but not in a fallen world. Given our sinfulness, yes, even in spite of the grace of God in us, were we to have too much pleasure and ease here, we would never want to quit this world for the next.  God knows how to wean us from this world and wean us He does!

And this brings us back to 1Peter 1:6-7:

1 Peter 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7  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:

Observe that the tried faith will “be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  Just how important is it to you to honour the Lord and in turn receive the honour that comes from Him?  You see, many do not have this tried faith precisely because they do not seek this honour that comes from the Lord.

John 5:44  How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

John 12:42  Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

43  For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

The praise of men? or the praise of God?  Which do you most desire?  If the honour and praise of men is so important to you, you will lack the courageous faith that endures the fiery trial, which was the kind of faith those saints had that we read about in Hebrews 11.  Indeed, these saints did not have the honour and praise of this world.  But this world was the loser for that rather than they, for it is written of them:  “Of whom the world was not worthy.”  This world does not deserve to have good people like that in it.    

So in all your tribulation, seek first and foremost to honour God in how you bear it knowing that everlasting honour awaits you at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Hang it there!  Be patient! Keep the faith!

Hebrews 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.

38  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

39  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.

I close this series of meditations on this somber note:

Luke 18:8  …Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The Trial of Your Faith, Part 5

I closed out our last meditation with this sentence: “When you are bearing your tribulations with patience, you are being like the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Our blessed Lord is the quintessential example of patience as the following passage clearly shows:

1 Peter 2:20  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously….

To not sin, to not return evil for evil, to commit yourself to God’s righteous judgment when you suffer, this is to suffer like the Lord. And this is what it is all about.  God is shaping your life to reflect the life of His Son.  When we study the lives of the Old Testament prophets, prophets like Joseph, Moses, and David, we see things they endured that foreshadow what our Lord would endure on this earth.  We call these prophets “types of Christ.”  We could spend a lot of time showing you examples of this.  But just as the Lord was making types of Christ out of these prophets in the things they suffered, so is He making you a type of His Son in the things you suffer.  By this means this world may see Christ in you. 

To suffer like Jesus is to experience “the fellowship of his sufferings.” 

Philippians 3:10  That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Suffering is something you and the Lord Jesus share together, if you follow His example of suffering with patience.  In his book Where Is God When It Hurts, Philip Yancey wrote:  “Suffering can never ultimately be meaningless, because God himself has shared it.” Between the present suffering and the final deliverance, it is comforting to know that God indeed understands our pain and suffering having Himself suffered in Christ.  Some who bear a grudge against God for the unfairness of life think that God should suffer.  He did!  Philip Yancey also wrote:  “The evils and sufferings that afflict our lives are so real and so significant to God that He willed to share them and endure them himself.”  If you truly trust in and love the Lord Jesus Christ, then it should give you no little comfort to think of Him as sharing your suffering with you.  And you can be sure that there is nothing but nothing that you suffer in this life but what He suffered the like when He walked amongst us on this earth.  This is why Paul could write these things about our Lord:

Hebrews 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

18  For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Hebrews 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Never let the devil convince you that Jesus does not understand what you are going through.  Rather, boldly ask the Lord to help you through the tribulation believing that He will, and He will help you.  You can count on that!  Because, you see, God is pleased when you process your life through your relationship with His beloved Son.  It honours Christ when you seek to pattern your life after Him and to relate the whole of your life to Him. When you honour Christ, you honour His Father God.  And when you honour God, you will be honoured.

John 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

23  That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

1 Samuel 2:30  … but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Great honour awaits those who presently have part in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings.  Think of your sufferings as not only something you suffer for Christ, think of them as something you suffer with Him.  And thinking of it this way, let your faith grab hold of this promise and not let it go:

Romans 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Never forget, first the cross then the crown!  As certain as you bear the cross here, you will wear the crown there. Keep your sights on that crown.

However, too many times, instead of patiently bearing our suffering, we let our suffering be an excuse to lash out at someone or to manipulate them to get what we want. This is not suffering like our Lord!  Suffering does not give us a license to be unkind to others.  It is interesting that when Paul lays out the characteristics of charity, he begins with this:  “Charity suffereth long and is kind” (1Corinthians 13:4).  Note that the first characteristic of charity that is mentioned connects it with the issue of suffering. Suffering crosses our will and when our will is crossed we often respond with anger, or discontent, or yielding to some sin because we think we deserve a break.  But charity is longsuffering, which is defined as patient endurance of provocation or trial.  The Greek word translated suffereth long is elsewhere translated have patience, patience, be patient, had patiently endured.  One way we know we are patiently enduring our suffering is when, as we suffer, we treat others with kindness rather than lashing out at them or abusing them. Of course, none is so kind as our dear Lord Jesus.  Consider the kindnesses wrought by our Lord whilst He suffered.  On the very eve of being betrayed by one of His friends, He washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-5).  In Gethsemane when Peter in blind zeal severed the ear of the servant of the high priest, Christ healed that servant (John 18:10; Luke 22:50-51).  While on His cross, He prayed that those who mocked Him might be forgiven (Luke 23:34), He comforted the penitent thief (Luke 23:40-43), and He provided for the care of His mother (John 19:26-27). Therefore, when we patiently suffer and are kind while we suffer, we follow the example set by our Saviour.

Now go with me to dark Calvary. At Calvary the powers of darkness seemed to prevail for a time. The Messiah was hanging nailed to a cross and God did nothing to bring Him down (Matthew 27:39-43). This seemed to justify the unbelief of Christ’s enemies. They said they would have believed Him if He came down from that cross, although His other miracles had not convinced them. Yet God’s purposes were being accomplished through all this intense suffering and seeming defeat. Now think of the greatest disappointment in your life when you staked everything on something within God’s power and that something did not happen. Then think of Calvary.  Calvary was the time when God did not deliver the Sufferer.  And just as God’s purpose, even our salvation, was being wrought at Calvary, so a purpose is being wrought in your life beyond your disappointed expectation. And one purpose that we know is being wrought through your suffering is God’s purpose to make you like His Son.  So instead of just asking God to remove your suffering, which you may indeed do, also ask Him to use it to teach you and to make more like Jesus so that you may say:

Psalm 119:71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

Psalm 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.

Remember this and don’t forget it:  the most important thing in all our suffering is that we follow Christ’s example and thus become more like Him.  To have the life of Jesus manifest in your body while you live on this earth is the greatest honour that you can possibly aspire unto.

2 Corinthians 4:8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

9  Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

11  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

The Trial of Your Faith, Part 4

We closed out our last meditation pointing out that God tries our faith in order to develop patience. The trial of our faith is distressing.  It is sometimes downright painful.  It is a condition of suffering.  That is why it is called tribulation, since tribulation is something we suffer.

1 Thessalonians 3:4  For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

When we know that suffering can be productive of good, it gives it meaning and thus makes it more bearable. People are quite willing to endure goal-directed suffering.  This is why athletes, soldiers, and expectant mothers are willing to undergo suffering.  As they suffer, they have an end in view that justifies what they endure.  In this life we will never understand all that God intends by permitting us to go through tribulation, but this much we can know:  He permits it to develop patience in us.

Romans 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience….

Now we need to define patience.

Patience - The suffering or enduring (of pain, trouble, or evil) with calmness and composure; the quality or capacity of so suffering or enduring. Forbearance, longsuffering, longanimity under provocation of any kind. The calm abiding of the issue of time, processes, etc., quiet and self-possessed waiting for something; the quality of expecting long without rage or discontent.

We can see from this definition that we would never know patience if we had no tribulation.  If we never had any pain, if we never were provoked, if we never had to wait, we would never know patience.  It is in going through disturbing circumstances and having to await a resolution or an outcome that we learn patience. And we are not bearing those circumstances patiently if we lose our composure and collapse into anger and discontent. Therefore, “tribulation worketh patience.” Tribulation provides an opportunity to endure trouble without losing it, as we say. It is interesting to note that the Greek word that is translated patience in Romans 5:3 and James 1:3 is also rendered “patient continuance” in Romans 2:7. 

Romans 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life….

Tribulation works patience in that it provides us with an occasion to continue “in well doing,” in doing the right thing and keeping the faith when under pressure to give it up.  In confirmation of this point, notice this important verse:

Revelation 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Patient saints keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus rather than abandoning them under pressure.  They just keep trusting Jesus and doing what God says, even if it seems for the time being to not be worth it.  They hold it together.

Now we’ll let James weigh in on this subject.

James 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

You can “count it all joy” when you are suffering divers (different) temptations or tribulations because you know what they are designed to accomplish, and that is, the working of patience. You realize that your suffering is goal-directed.  There is something worthwhile to come of it. 

Now whilst we are under the pressure of the temptation, James tells us to “let patience have her perfect work.” Our problem is that too often we let passion have its work rather than patience.  We become angry over what we are experiencing and sometimes take it out on others.  We might even curse the situation in bitter discontent.  We murmur at “how long” it is going on. We ask, “When will this ever end?”  We question God’s reasons for allowing it.  We may not express that in so many words, but the doubt nonetheless lingers beneath the surface.  When this happens, we frustrate the whole purpose of the trial.  It is then that we have to go back to the drawing board, seek forgiveness for our sin of anger and discontent, and then reset our thinking as to what is going on in our life.  We need to come back to the realization of those three things we mentioned in the last meditation.  Those three things are: (1) God is in control and is, therefore, permitting the tribulation, (2) God understands why the tribulation is there, (3) God loves us, and, therefore, cares for us and intends good for us. 

Now James tells us that patience has its “perfect work,” that is, its work is fully accomplished, when we are “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  To be “perfect and entire, wanting nothing” is to be fully mature. Think of your tribulations as growing pains.  They are serving their purpose when you are growing through them, when you are becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, which is what Christian growth is all about.

Ephesians 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ….          

When you are “perfect and entire, wanting nothing” you are standing “perfect and complete in all the will of God.” 

Colossians 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.

This means you are doing whatsoever the Lord commands.  There is nothing wanting in your obedience. You are a “blameless and harmless” son of God that requires no rebuke (Philippians 2:15).  You are holding “fast the profession of our faith without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23).  You are hanging on to what you believe no matter whatever else you have to let go, be it health, wealth, friends, family, or life itself.  Just as gold emerges purified when it passes through the fire, so the tried, patient believer emerges perfect when he is tried. When you come through a trial with the same faith, only stronger and purer, patience is having her perfect work.

Ah, but you say, I have not as yet arrived at that stage of being “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”  Of course, you haven’t and you won’t arrive at the ultimate perfection until you see Jesus coming again in glory.  And that is why you still experience the trial of your faith!  The work of perfecting you is still going on.  You are, as we say, “a work in progress.”  And until we reach that perfection, we must just keep patiently pressing forward in pursuit of it until at last it is attained. 

Philippians 3:12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

James 5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

8  Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

And when you are bearing your tribulations with patience, you are being like the Lord Jesus Christ. But further comment on that will have to wait until our next installment, God willing.

The Trial of Your Faith, Part 3

I am receiving such encouraging responses to these blogs that I am motivated to submit yet another a bit sooner. I appreciate the encouragement and thank God for any blessing you receive from these meditations.

We concluded our last meditation pointing out that the trial of your faith mentioned in 1Peter 1:7 is “much more precious than of gold that perisheth.” The faith itself is much more precious than gold and so is the trial that purifies and improves that faith. Now it challenges our faith to think of the trying of it as being itself precious. But that it is so may be seen from this passage:

Romans 5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope….

Before we comment on this verse, let’s define tribulation.

Tribulation – A condition of great affliction, oppression, or misery; persecution, distress; vexation; disturbance of life.

Tribulation is what you suffer when your faith is tried and you are “in heaviness through manifold temptations.” Now there is something about the trial of your faith that is so precious that you can glory it, just as we noted the apostle Paul doing in our last meditation (2Corinthians 12:9). When you glory in something, you rejoice exceedingly in it. Imagine being that excited over tribulation! But why would we glory in something that by definition is a source of misery, distress, vexation, and disturbance? There must indeed be something very precious about it if it elicits that response.

The reason we can glory in tribulations is not because we are masochists that enjoy pain for the sake of pain. If the tribulation were all pleasure, it would not be tribulation by definition. We do not rejoice in the tribulation as a thing in itself. We rejoice in the tribulation because we know what God is working by means of it. We glory in it precisely because it is a trial, a test that our loving heavenly Father is subjecting us to in order to make us better persons.

For us to truly glory in tribulation, we must view it from God's perspective. Our problem is that we all too often only view it from our perspective. As believers there are three things we need to ever bear in mind about God. The first thing is that God’s rule, and thus His control, extends over all things.

Psalms 103:19  The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Therefore, no tribulation or temptation can enter your life without His permission, which we have already noted from 1Corinthians 10:13. Remember that Satan could not lay a hand on Job or his possessions without God’s permission (JOB 1:12; 2:6). But, alas, it is at just this point that we get stuck. Much of our frustration in tribulation lies in that fact that we want to control what goes on in our lives rather than submitting to God's control. Might it not be that God is permitting a tribulation in your life to purge out just such self-willfulness? Might the Lord be trying your faith to bring it to the point of humble resignation such as our Lord expressed in the hour of His great agony: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42)? Fighting God for control will only make matters worse. “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” (Isaiah 45:9).

The second thing we need to remember about God is that He knows and understands our suffering.

Exodus 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows….

Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Psalms 31:7  I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities….

You may not understand why the trouble is there, but God does. He knows what He intends by permitting it in your life.  And this can also be a sticking point for us. If the tribulation does not make sense to us, then we think it makes no sense at all. That is because we are refusing to consider God’s take on the situation. We are exalting our understanding above His. You see, it is easy and clear to the discerning mind to know that there is a God. Our problem is coming to grips with the fact that we are not He! We are still infected with the poisonous lie that led to the downfall of our first parents: “ye shall be as gods.” We do so like to usurp His place in controlling our lives and fully understanding everything that transpires. Do you suppose that the Lord just might be letting you be “in heaviness through manifold temptations” to purge you of such self-exaltation?

And while I am on this point of understanding our tribulations, let me insert some additional thoughts. In his excellent book Disappointment with God Philip Yancey wrote: “Perhaps God keeps us ignorant because we are incapable of comprehending the answer.” There is a depth to God’s judgments and ways that we cannot fathom.

Romans 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

God dwells in the dimension of eternity and, therefore, sees things much differently than we do who are bounded by time. An author of a finished book sees the whole plot of the book at once whereas a reader must plod through it sentence by sentence to get it. So it is with us as we plod through life in a fallen world full of suffering. God sees what you go through from a vastly different perspective. Our suffering here is only an infinitesimal bleep in comparison with eternity. This is where our faith enters in. Although we do not know all the answers, we trust in God Who does know. Are you beginning to see how the Lord might try your faith to prove whether you are trusting your understanding or His? I quote Philip Yancey again: “Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” And when you compare this infinitesimal bleep we are enduring now with the eternal glory that is ahead of us who are believers, why then, it is nothing to be compared. It is not even in the running.

Romans 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

 

And the third thing to always keep in mind is that God loves and cares for you, and purposes to do you good.

1 John 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

God manifested His love for you in sending His only-begotten and beloved Son to die for your miserable sins and to give you eternal life.

1 John 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

How much more must the Lord do to show you that He cares for you and intends good for you?

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Jeremiah 32:40  And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

Now as you suffer your tribulation, you may choose to doubt God’s love, care, and good intentions for you. But I ask you in all honesty, just how is doubting and denying these plain statements from the mouth of God going to make your situation better or help you to cope with it better?

All these three things taken together, God's control of all things, God's understanding of all things, and God's love and care for you, let you know that God has something good wrapped into that heaviness you are bearing. From these three facts about God you may have the assurance expressed in these famous words of the psalmist David.

Psalms 23:6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Goodness and mercy are tracking you as you make your way through your tribulation. It might not seem so clear to you now, but as time passes you will be able to look back and see clearly that goodness and mercy were there tagging along all the way. I know it has been thus with me. And this is what gives me courage to keep trudging ahead.

Now we are expressly told something God intends by permitting us to be “in heaviness through manifold temptations,” and that is, the trying of our faith in order to develop patience. But, alas, that will have to wait until the next installment. In the meantime, let it suffice you for now to know that through the trial of your faith, God is making you a type of His adorable Son for all to see. Our tribulations are all part of the plan to make us more and more like Jesus. Greater honour there cannot be than being like the Lord Jesus Christ, for that is the grand end of the salvation of God. “Oh, to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer!”

1 John 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

The Trial of Your Faith, Part 2

We pick up where we left off considering “the trial of your faith,” which is mentioned in this passage:

1 Peter 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

7  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….

Three words that I have often emphasized when I have dealt with this passage are those words “if need be.” If you are presently “in heaviness through manifold temptations,” it is because you need to be. Any temptation in your life is there because it needs to be. Furthermore, it can only be there if God permits it to be.

1 Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

This verse lets us know that it is God that suffers (permits) a temptation to get through to us. But it also assures us that our God is faithful to never let any temptation get to us that is above our ability to bear. And He will “with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” Now Satan will do his utmost to convince you that whatever trial you undergoing is more than you can handle. But that is his lie to get you to doubt God’s faithfulness. And once you doubt that, Satan has you right where he wants you. So when you are in heaviness, keep 1Corinthians 10:13 steadily in mind.

There are a couple of other very important things that 1Corinthians teaches about a temptation. Not only it is there because God allowed it, but it is also common to man. You are not the only one to struggle with it.

1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Because we are Christians our battles with the devil certainly qualify to be afflictions for us, and they are afflictions our brethren also experience. And it gives us comfort to know this. This very point jumped out at me one time when I was reading the book of Lamentations.

Lamentations 2:13  What thing shall I take to witness for thee? what thing shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? what shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? for thy breach is great like the sea: who can heal thee?

Note that in order to comfort the virgin daughter of Zion, the prophet needed to find something to liken to her or to equal her. So it is with us. If we learn of something that is like to what we are dealing with or equal to our temptation, we find comfort. We don’t feel so alone or odd in that case. We all have experienced sharing a struggle with someone and discovering to our great relief that they have had the same struggle.

Another very important thing to glean from 1Corinthians 10:13 is that when you are dealing with a difficult temptation, God in His faithfulness will make a way of escape so that you can bear it without being overcome by it. But note! This point is crucial! The escape is not that the temptation goes away entirely. Rather, the escape is found in being able to bear it! God provides some outlet, some resource so that you find help, comfort, and peace to be able to bear it. Don’t doubt this because if you do, the help could be right in front of you staring you in the face and you won’t see it. Nothing is so blinding as unbelief in the word of the living God.

I go to 1Corinthians 10:13 because it is so germane to the subject of temptation and we are dealing with the “manifold temptations” mentioned in 1Peter 1:6-7. But I now wish to come back to 1Peter 1:6-7 from which I draw the title of these meditations, The Trial of Your Faith. Zero in on those words “more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire.” Now the question is whether Peter is describing “your faith” as being more precious than gold, or “the trial of your faith” as being more precious than gold. Is it the faith or the trial that is more precious than gold? Well, if you think about it, it’s both. There is no question that faith is precious. In his second epistle, Peter writes “to them that have obtained like precious faith with us” (2Peter 1:1). And faith is more precious “than gold that perisheth.” But insofar as our trials purify our faith like fire purifies gold thus making better stuff of our faith, the trial can also be deemed precious.

Now I shall have more to say about why the trial of your faith is so precious, but that will be for another installment, God willing. For now I would like to exhort you to examine yourself as to just how precious your faith is to you. Is it more precious than your most precious material possession such as gold might be? This verse should give you some idea of the premium God places upon faith:

James 2:5  Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

If you have faith, you have the potential to be very rich, if that faith increases. And that is what the trial of your faith is all about. If you properly respond to the trial, it will purify your faith of its weaknesses and cause it to be stronger and thus better. So why wouldn’t you consider the process precious that increases the value of your most precious possession? In the end it will only make you richer. Perhaps you can now get a glimpse into why the apostle Paul could write: “most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities” (2Corinthians 12:9). Those infirmities enriched his faith. This was a man so rich in faith that he “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). How would you like to have a faith that was even remotely that effective? And if you are “rich in faith,” then you are “heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him.” As is said in our modern slang, “It don’t get no better than that!”