written by Louis Sacran

1 Peter 1:3-9

Last week, we noticed that God is using the trials we experience to make us more like Jesus. As painful and exhausting as they often are, they are needful in bringing God’s work to completion in us.

You may be going through a difficult trial right now, wondering if you will have the strength to make it through the week, much less be made more like Jesus. You are not alone. As Peter writes to the suffering saints who had become scattered from their homes and driven to an unfamiliar place, he gives them five truths to help anchor them in their distress:

1. Faith will guard you – 1 Peter 1:3-5
2. Grief will overwhelm you – 1 Peter 1:6
3. Fire will try you – 1 Peter 1:7
4. Jesus will sustain you – 1 Peter 1:8
5. Eternity will define you – 1 Peter 1:9

These truths equip us in knowing what God is doing and how God is helping. Peter is not laying out a five-step plan to handle trials successfully. Rather, he is giving us five anchor points that will keep us from being blown away in the midst of trials. It may be helpful if we think about the corresponding truths to each of our anchor points:

1. God is good, even when life is hard.
2. It’s normal to hurt.
3. Growth is often painful.
4. You are not alone.
5. You are not yet what you will be one day.

As we meditate on this for the next several weeks, I hope you will realize the Bible gives a realistic, yet hopeful, outlook on trials. God shows up in the midst of real needs to give real help.

Would you like prayer? Let us know and our prayer team will pray for you. You are loved and you are not alone.