How do I handle trials? That is a question most don’t contemplate. When they come, and they will, we just react and hope they will hurry up and pass. Yet, trials are in our lives for a purpose, God is in control when everything seems to be out of control. How we deal with our trials will reveal a lot to us about ourselves. We can go through great trials and still have joy if we handle them God’s way.
I Peter 1:6-7 “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 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 honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”
Trials are a fact of life. Just because we are Christians does not exempt us from the hardships of this world; it only allows us to deal with them differently. It allows us to zoom out and look at the big picture. To place things in perspective. It does not mean we don’t sorrow through them, but we do not sorrow without hope.
It is so easy to get caught up in our trials or grief and allow it to consume us. In this passage, Peter is saying they greatly rejoiced even facing serious trials. In verse 6 we have validation of grief. There is a heaviness because of the trials and temptations, and it is not a sin to be grieved by them. However, Peter instructs us to not dwell on the trials. We are not to wallow in self-pity, but we are to look forward and rejoice during the trials. We can rejoice even though we are hurting deeply.
To rejoice in trials, we need to stop and look at the present and future blessings of God. If you take an account of your life, there will be much to thank God for in the present. Paul found great joy while sitting in a prison cell. All throughout Philippians, he mentions his joy, and in Philippians 4:4 he tells them to always be rejoicing, In Genesis 50:20, Joseph tells his brothers that they had meant evil to be his lot, but God meant it for good. Joseph saw God working in his horrible circumstances and changing them into something good. We, too, need to look at the blessings God has given us.
Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.”
Genesis 50:20 “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
Put your blessings into perspective. Think of the millions who are living with no hope of eternal life. Think of those who are struggling day to day with no food or water for their families or those who are in prison simply because they love Jesus. Most of us are so spoiled that we whine over silly things. We allow wants to dictate how we feel. We lose sight of what a great and mighty God we serve, and the provisions he has made for us.
There are many things we can rejoice in, no matter what the circumstances. We should be rejoicing in our new birth. Because of Jesus we can be forgiven, promised a new life, and an eternal home. We have the hope of Heaven, a great inheritance, and the knowledge that we are kept by God himself. The sorrow of a Christian should never outweigh his joy in his King.
We need to understand that our trials are not meaningless. God allows them, and He uses them to refine us like gold is refined if we will trust Him through them. Trials will test the genuineness of our faith. It will either prove our faith is real or fake. If our faith is real, it will be honoring to God. I can only imagine how God feels when His children prove their faith is real. When the world sees how they trust God through the worst of times. This is validation to a lost world that He is real! When we handle our trials according to scripture, it will purify us and draw us closer to God. We are being molded and made ready for the day when we see Jesus face to face.
Read Paul’s view of trials in Romans 8:18. Then, read a contemporary’s views of trials. Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadriplegic as a teen after a diving accident. Paul and Joni give us a godly perspective on trials.
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.”
“In a way, I wish I could take to heaven my old, tattered Everest and Jennings wheelchair. I would point to the empty seat and say, “Lord, for decades I was paralyzed in this chair. But it showed me how paralyzed You must have felt to be nailed to Your Cross. My limitations taught me something about the limitations You endured when You laid aside your robes of state and put on the indignity of human flesh.” At that point, with my strong and glorified body, I might sit in it, rub the armrests with my hands, look up at Jesus, and add, “The weaker I felt in this chair, the harder I leaned on You. And the harder I leaned, the more I discovered how strong You are. Thank you, Jesus, for learning obedience in your suffering…You gave me the grace to learn obedience in mine.” ~Joni Eareckson Tada
