Do you ever find that a certain topic finds its way into your conversations multiple times over a short period of time? Does it make you pause and wonder why? That’s exactly what’s happened to me over the past couple of months. I found myself saying essentially the same words to at least a half dozen people. And in most cases, these were people and circumstances with little in common.
What WAS consistent in these conversations, is that we were talking about some kind of difficulty that the friend was experiencing. Something that was challenging enough to tell me about, and to ask for my prayers over.
I suppose as a way to either validate why they were experiencing this difficulty, or to perhaps give them a new perspective through it, I found myself saying this to each of them, “In 1 Peter, it tells us not to be surprised when we get fiery trials in our lives. Not bumps in the road, but FIERY trials. That’s major!”
Here is the full context of that scripture from 1 Peter 4:12:
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you,
as though something strange were happening to you.
So, what I was conveying to my friends in each conversation was the “don’t be surprised” part of this text. It’s crucial to understand, because it practically guarantees that our life as a believer will be subject to gut-wrenching and heart wrenching challenges. Yes, I am a ray of sunshine…
None of us want these, do we? I certainly wouldn’t willingly take on the pain of losing my spouse. But I can tell you, it’s MY fiery trial. I bet as you’re reading through this, you have circumstances in your life, either currently or in your past, that you would throw into this same category.
So the first lesson is that, sooner or later, we will all face circumstances that feel fiery to us.
The phrase “as though something strange were happening to you” backs up the idea of not being surprised by this. It’s not strange, and you are not alone.
I looked up the antonym (opposite) of “surprised” and this is the collection of words I got:
- ordinary
- usual
- normal
- conventional
- familiar
The bottom line is that the pain and misery we experience in this life should be considered…see the list above. Ugh! That’s not very encouraging, is it? Honestly, sometimes I’d just rather be surprised by it!
But let’s look at one more phrase in this verse that can add a better perspective for us. It’s the phrase, “to test you.”
Not to harm you. Not to discourage you. Not to make you give up. Not to make you doubt that God loves you.
To test you.
Deep down, I think we know that’s part of why we go through trials. It’s one of the hallmarks of my ministry. I say and write often, “God does his best and most permanent work in our lives through our trials.” I believe it because I’ve lived it.
I’m sure many of you have heard the analogy about how the hottest fire makes the strongest steel. That’s the concept here.
Here’s the crowning point of this all. The one who is sovereign over each of your trials – the fiery kind and the bump-in-the-road kind – is the Almighty God who guarantees that he will walk with you through this trial and refine you through it…because he loves you.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5
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