“Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.” (I Petr 1:6)
There is a commercial for a pain reliever on TV that wants to make us believe if we take said pain medicine, in spite of our joint aches, headaches, and backaches, we will be saying, “what pain?” I am sure you’ve seen it, but did you ever notice in the commercial that all the people running, jumping, and exerting physical energy free of pain are young? Statistics tell us that Americans spend 14.7 billion dollars yearly out of pocket to go to physicians to help with their pain. That does not include what insurance covers. Statistics also tell us we spend 12.8 billion dollars out of pocket for supplements that might help with our infirmities. Obviously, we do not like to be in pain, and we will pay anything to get rid of it. The sad question is does any of this really help?
Same is true with the mental and emotional pain we go through when we experience trials, grief and difficulties. The first thing we contemplate is how we can find a way to escape the pain. The next place our mind goes to is questioning God’s goodness and faithfulness. “If God loves me, why am I going through this?”
Actually, our trials show us more of God’s goodness and faithfulness than we would know without them. Our difficulties also show us how amazing God’s grace is. The very nature of grace is to alter who we are. Christ told the apostle Paul, one of the greatest believers who ever lived, when he prayed to be relieved of his suffering, “my grace is sufficient for you.” Even the great apostle when praying for relief from his difficulty was extended grace rather than deliverance. God’s grace had a higher calling for Paul’s life than merely the relief of his suffering. That higher calling was to develop Paul into the mighty man of God that he became. The same is true for each of us. God’s goal is to transform us more than transforming our circumstances.
I remember when I had my knee replacement several years ago. The recovery was painful. Physical therapy was painful to work through, but I kept telling myself that one day I would be glad I did it. Sure enough, after a few months of toughing it out, I was very glad I had done it.
Peter tells us in our verse this week that we will one day experience a wonderful joy, though now we experience trials. That joy can give us all the grace we need for now. And who knows, we might even find ourselves saying, “what trials?”
Darlene