Seeds for 04/05/2024 - 1 Peter 1:6
Scripture:
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Observation:
Anyone reflecting on the human experience must deal with the natural tension of having good times and bad times. Scripture is no different. At the heart of this verse is a contrast between greatly rejoicing and suffering grief. Instead of instructing his readers to regard the facing of trials as joyful, he acknowledges that joy and grief can coexist in us.
The trials facing Peter’s audience concern challenges they face as believers in a hostile setting. They are not likely facing physical persecution at this time in these places, but they are at least dealing with pressures to compromise their beliefs, morality, and witness or else face social ostracism. Following Jesus with their whole lives—in worship, work, and home; regarding sex, money, and power—caused them to stand apart. If you’re working to guard your time, your resources, and your energy for practical devotion and moral integrity, it can be exhausting to deal with all the ways that your culture and your neighbors press against you. You work to set boundaries you believe in, but they are challenged at every turn. No doubt about it, it’s hard.
Peter acknowledges that these are legitimate trials that cause us suffering. They grieve us because they have the ability to chip away at our resolve if we let them.
Still, Peter doesn’t want us to get bogged down. He wants us to thrive despite the trials we face. He wants us to keep moving forward in faith and faithfulness to Jesus.
Two bits of perspective help us. First, many of the trials we deal with only last “for a little while,” compared with the grand sweep of our lives, certainly compared with eternity. Second, even with trials there is ample room for rejoicing if we have received God’s gift of “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This is so wonderful a gift that we are able to rejoice in Jesus even as we suffer trials on account of our commitment to Him.
Application:
When have you caught grief for making a practical choice that upheld your faithfulness to God instead of going with the current of your community?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the living hope that I have because of Jesus’ resurrection. Keep that joy in my heart and mind even in the midst of trials. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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