1 Peter 1:6 Grieved by Various Trials

Introduction:
Remember how scary the dark of night could feel when you were little?  I’m sure there have been times in all of our lives, whether sixty years ago or maybe six hours ago when the night seemed frightening. I remember one particular night at my dad’s mobile home; I don’t remember how old I was but I must have been eleven or twelve. It was the middle of the night and it was storming when North Sewickley’s fire whistle went off. Immediately I heard my dad, who was a fireman, spring out of bed, put on his fire suit, rush out the door, and speed away to the fire. He was a first-responder, not only as a fireman for twenty years, but also as a medic with the local ambulance service for over thirty years. Many people, including me, know my dad as a hero. But on that night when he headed out to a house fire, there was total silence and complete darkness; I was alone. I curled up in the blankets and tried to go back to sleep. I almost had when… BANG!… the screen door slammed against the side of the trailer. Now, right here today, we all understand that thieves and murderers don’t slam doors on the way in; they come quietly. We also know that monsters and wild man-eating beasts generally don’t use the front door (they live under beds and in closets). But to a young boy who is alone in a dark house and already on edge, such comforting thoughts don’t come to mind. I laid there stiff as a board watching my bedroom door with no idea what I would do if it started to open.

Job 23 is a fascinating passage. Job is lamenting his terrible situation but at the same time proclaiming that God is just in all He does. Job certainly expresses that he knows God is sovereign over all of life. I encourage you to read Job 23 now. I will wait.

Let me point out Job 23:16-17 which say, “For God made my heart weak and the Almighty terrifies me because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness and He did not hide deep darkness from my face.” The darkness that Job was talking about was that terrible trial he was enduring. For me as a young boy it was actual darkness and the fear of what was in the darkness. It was terrifying to me and I needed one of two things to happen to relieve my fear; I needed to either hear my dad pull back into the driveway, or I needed the sun to come up. We’ve all seen the beauty of a sunrise, but I can tell you that on that morning, the sunrise was a most glorious miracle. We don’t typically appreciate sunrise unless we have struggled through the long dark night. Think about how often you miss, ignore, and take the daily sunrise for granted. The sun rises every single day, but how often does its breaking over the horizon fill you with joy? Most likely, thousands upon thousands of sunrises have burst forth without you ever giving them a thought. Still, there may be one or two of those that had your full attention because of the dark night you endured.

The people Peter was writing to where enduring a long dark night. The Holy Spirit, through Peter, addressing the letter to those “the pilgrims of the dispersion,” or we have said, “strangers in a strange land.” In the opening statements they are reminded that God is always worthy of praise because of who He is and what He does. They are reminded that God gives those who trust in His Son, Jesus, new life now and an everlasting inheritance. Moreover, Almighty God guards that inheritance and guards us with His power. Because of all that, believers are encouraged to trust God and be obedient in any hardship they face.

When trials, difficulties, and tragedies come, the most frequently asked question is, “Why did this happen?” Often we will not know that answer. There are countless possibilities as to why any particular trial comes upon us. But one thing is true of all trials, and that is what we will consider today. We all know that trials and hardship come sooner or later, we’re all pretty aware of that right now, right? Things are just going along fine and all of a sudden life can be turned upside down. This passage from God’s Word can help.

Grieved by Various Trials:

I encourage you to take a minute and read 1 Peter 1:1-9 before continuing with this post.

Now, let’s begin with the Testing of Our Faith. The Spirit, through Peter, says in the opening verses that because of our inheritance we can rejoice, even if we are grieved by trials. He has just explained the source our joy: being reborn by God to a new life, promised a Heavenly inheritance that He guards for us, and assured that we are guarded by His power. Are we guaranteed that the rest of our lives here will be filled with comfort, enjoyment, and wealth? No, the Spirit says we will be grieved by various trials! Anyone who tells you otherwise ignores the plain teaching in 1 Peter, Job, Psalms and the rest of Scripture. God never promised to remove all trials in this life, but He does promise to lead you through them. Just consider the well known Psalm 23; verse 4 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” There is no elimination of troubles and trials in this life when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. In fact, we’ll see later in 1 Peter that we may very well start to suffer persecution because we belong to Christ. In talking about false teachers who warp or deny the truth, the Spirit says through John in 1 John 4:4, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Trials will come, but God will see us through according to His perfect purpose and will. That communion that we have is the peace, joy and unity that helps us endure and give us hope and assurance for what comes when we leave this life.

He says, this suffering is “for a little while.” Little while is a very relative phrase, I mean how long is that…days, months, years…?  In relation to the eternal inheritance that is to come even our entire lives are just “a little while.” We don’t all suffer the same trials either, or the same amount of trials, or the same severity of trials. Why is that? I don’t know. Sometimes we bring grief upon ourselves, like when we sin. If I robbed someone, I am going to experience hardships when the police come and arrest me. Actually I think the trials would start with overwhelming guilt, long before the police ever showed up. I couldn’t blame anyone else, particularly God, for that hardship. It’s not the victim’s fault, not the police officers’ fault, not the judge’s fault; the hardship was caused by my own actions. But what Peter is talking about is the grief and trials brought upon us when we didn’t do anything to cause it, the kind of grief that Job suffered (see Job), or Joseph (see Genesis 37-50), or Daniel (see Daniel). Of course the greatest example is God the Son, Jesus, who suffered persecution, mockery, scourging, and tortuous death on the Cross to pay the penalty for our sin. “For He (the Father) made Him (the Son) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21), and “Surely He (Jesus) has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Moms, remember a time when your child was running and playing only to fall in some gravel? There was blood and a few pebbles pressed into their skin; they were crying and trembling. You cradled them and brushed the pebbles out. You took them inside and put them through the necessary agony of cleaning the wounds.  Now back when I was a kid, moms used iodine, right? That red stuff every kid hated because it burned. But a loving mom cleaned the wounds so they didn’t become infected, and all the time you were applying that red torture, what did you tell your child?… Yeah, “I know this hurts, honey, but I have to do this. It will only sting for a moment and then everything will be okay.” Meanwhile, the child thinks the world is over and big brother stands there saying, “Shake it off, take it like a man.” Why do parents do things like that? Because it has to be done. The germs and bacteria that cause infection must be removed and the wound must be bandaged. Throughout the episode, mom gives plenty of hugs and you might even catch a tear rolling down her cheek. It breaks her heart that you are hurting, and applying the iodine is one of the hardest things she will do, but it has to be done. Mom does it because she loves you. There is something else too, that little episode with the fall and iodine teaches the child that trials will come and sometimes even the remedy is hard to take, but those who love you will be there to help and comfort you through the process. But understand this, no one, not even mom, loves you more than your Heavenly Father.

The trials that you face are more than scraped knees. Yet your Father in Heaven says to you right here, “It is only for a little while and I am watching over you and will lead you because I love you.” Trust Him, even if He has to apply a little iodine. Take comfort in the fact that God only allows trials that are necessary for His good and perfect will for our lives.  Like your little boy or girl sitting on your knee as you clean their scrapes and cuts, looking up at you with tears in their eyes as the medicine burns causing more pain, you know it’s the best thing, you know it needs to be done. You do it because you love them. Folks, your Heavenly Father knows it hurts, but He loves you, and He is only doing what is best for you even though you don’t understand it.

Conclusion:

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned that one thing is true of all trials and hardships. That one thing is that they all have purpose. In God’s sovereign will, there is a reason we face various trials. We may not know what that purpose is and that is why we need to trust Him. In many cases, learning to trust Him IS the purpose.

Next week we’ll continue with 1 Peter 1:7-9. But let me end by saying that I am actually thankful for that scary night long ago, alone in the trailer. It was hard then, but it taught me some things and helped me learn to deal with hardship. The sun did eventually come up. Dad eventually came home. I was alright. In fact, I was a little stronger, not because I fought off an intruder or defeated a monster in the closet, but because God helped me endure and brought me through the trial.

Is your faith been tested? Trust Him. He always does the right thing.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Mark