3)
Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath
begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead,
4)
To an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you,
5)
Who are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6)
Wherein ye greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through
manifold temptations:
7)
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 honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8)
Whom having not seen, ye love;
in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory:
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many, upon coming to salvation, do not understand that they will be tried. Even
though we are taught though scripture and preaching that these are trial of
faith, we (still) grow faint. Much of the reason for this is that we come from
a life that allows us to do as we please. Then, upon salvation, we find that we
are in control of nothing—but God is in control of every thing.
Much
of the Lord's work after salvation is to get us to see that all that we think
is not according to the Word. Better than anyone, He knows that we will neither
mean all that we say or perform all that we claim.
Perhaps
one of the greatest problems with testing is that it comes to show us where we
really are. More often than not, it shows us that we are not "all
that." When one does not intend to accept this or change, all that he will
come away with is bitterness, rebelliousness or obstinacy.
It
is very hard to be successful at anything when (as a result of the first
uncomfortable thing that happens) one tries to find an "exit" to get
away from what one perceives as pressure.
All pressure is avoidable. For one thing,
all that happens in our lives is allowed by God—who loves us best. Also, the
Lord has not saved us for us to worry about anything. Before He saved
us, He did not require us to be smart, wealthy, intelligent
or anything else. All He wanted from us was our acceptance of Him, that, after
salvation, He might be able to supply all that we need.
One of the easiest paths to take away
from responsibilities to take things personally and blame others for our
deficiencies and shortcomings.
Whether we realize it or not, most often interpersonal relationships are
but small trails to show us where we really are.
Too
frequently, we see ourselves as "victims". Often, we honestly believe
that what has been said about or done to us is the primary cause of our not
prospering. We do this even though we really know that there is no power
greater than God and therefore, no one and nothing is able to keep us
from accomplishing our purpose in God. So, the reason that we do not prosper is
simply because we do not trust Him.
Another
thing that seems to hinder the saints is a tendency to wrestle with the issue
of "understanding". Some people seem to think that they really must
understand everything. True, things can happen in our lives for which
there seems to be no understanding, but we must always remember that we
have been called to obey and submit to the will of God. Operating in
spirituality is not something which is automatically conferred upon one. Yes,
one is automatically a spiritual being by reason of birth, but he can remain
clueless as to what is actually spiritual unless he practices conducting
himself according to the direction of the Spirit.
The
faith to which we have been resurrected is a living hope which teaches us as we
endure our trials and tests with victory. In that we are tried in the new life
with new lessons to be learned, if we intend to be happy, we will have to
undergo a personal change. You see, one can no more be happy off a group's
happiness than he can be saved. Because it is our perception which
colors our responses and reactions, in order to be pleasing to God, we must see
things as He does.
Though
trials come as gauges for our own personal use, they are used by God as a means
of preparation. You see, w will be required to comply with His requirements if
we would make it to heaven. The reason for this is that since the Lord created
us, He knows what is wrong with us and therefore, knows exactly what we need to
be able to "make" it.
Most
of us do not look at ourselves as being "that" bad, yet we are
instructed to "mortify" (i.e. kill) the deeds of the flesh. The use
of such a strong word indicates that the problem is a very serious one. Since
the annihilation of all that is fleshly is a "must," the Lord makes
it as easy for us as possible. Whereas He could allow us to
"flounder" and try to "stumble" upon what we need, the Lord
orchestrates our lives and situations to achieve a desired result.
There
is a reason that we must endure "the trial of (our faith)." You see,
it is easy to make oral assertations (that is, to
proclaim one's love to live up to one's profession. This is the means God has
to allow us to discover if we mean what we say.
Though
the situations He allows are "real," because we belong to Him,
He "cools" the flames of our "fire" as we go through.
What
we must always remember is that right on the heels of a blessing from serving
God comes a test. What we must deal with is that whatever
we say concerning God, we must prove it!
One
way or another, we will learn to be controlled by god - or we will not be
saved. In that He cannot use what He cannot control, we have little choice.
If I want to be "me," I will not go to heaven, for "me"
was born in sin, shapen in iniquity and unless controlled
by the Holy Spirit, is out of control.