#DailyDevotion Does Your Faith Delight You In The Midst Of Trials
1 Peter 16This delights you, although now for a little while you may have had to suffer various trials. 7Gold is tested by fire, and your faith, when it is tested, should be found to be much more precious than gold, which perishes. This is how you will have praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears again. 8You never saw Him, but you love Him. You don’t see Him now, but you believe in Him. And a joy, unspeakable and wonderful, fills you with delight 9as you receive by faith what you’re looking for — your salvation.
The salvation we are to receive on the Last Day, that is being kept safe for us, delights us. Indeed we are to look to that future salvation with joy even as “but for the joy set before him [Christ] endured the cross and shame.” It is this delight that enables us to endure the suffering, grief, and shame we will encounter in discipleship of Jesus Christ our Lord. “For a little while” we “may have to suffer various trials.” We should remember in particular that they are just for a little while. It may seem like forever when we are going through them. They will not last forever. The salvation promised us if we endure will last forever.
Our faith, like gold, is tested by fire, i.e. trials, tribulations, crosses and sufferings. It is tested by such things. To be tested means to be purified. As we go through them we are purged from trusting other people and other things to trusting in God our Father for all good things. St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 416 “That is why we are not discouraged. No, even if we outwardly perish, inwardly we’re renewed from day to day. 17The light trouble of this moment is preparing for us an everlasting weight of glory, greater than anything we can imagine. 18We don’t look at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen. What we see lasts only a while, but what we don’t see lasts forever.”
Enduring whatever comes our way and having it purify our faith will result in our praise, honor and glory when Jesus Christ appears. Hearing Jesus speak the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” will more than make up for whatever it is that we lose in this life because of our faith in Jesus. Of course Hebrews words bear true for the moment, Hebrews 125“My son, don’t think lightly of the Lord’s training or give up when He corrects you. 6The Lord corrects whom He loves, and He whips everyone He accepts as His son. 7What you endure is to correct you. God is treating you as His sons…11While we’re being corrected, it always seems unpleasant and painful. But after we’ve been trained, correction gives us the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
We live by this faith and this faith loves Jesus even though we haven’t seen him. The joy of his salvation, although unspeakable and wonderful fills us with delight because this faith gives to us his salvation. Yes though our conscience may speak ill to us and accuse us, we can silence it with Jesus who gives us a clear conscience and boldness to approach our Father in our time of need and know that he hears us. This clear conscience before God is our joy as we look forward to the day we see Jesus with our eyes in our own flesh and rejoice in his salvation.
Heavenly Father, you alone know what we need to purify our faith in Christ. Grant us your grace in strength in those times of our chastisement so we can endure and receive the promised praise, honor and glory at his revelation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.