1 Peter 1: 3-9
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Wow! What a passage. I am inspired by a comment a friend just made to me about nothing being wasted in our lives. So many times I have thought that there cannot be any good that can come out of a specific situation in my life and yet even if nothing but my faith in Christ was being built up, it would still be worth it.
But so much more can come out of it. Such as the building up of the body.
What does it take for others to be encouraged? For us to be real. For us to say, this has been and is my life and as I was reminded last night, God gives us the strength to get up in the morning and start another day.
He does not promise an easy road as so many false teachers proclaim but He does promise He’ll be there. He does promise He will make all things work together for our good.
Right now I am having to cling to this promise like many times before in my life. I may not see it till I am at His throne and kissing His precious nail scarred feet. But I know He is reliable, He never breaks His promises. And none of my grief will be wasted.
