These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 1 Peter 1:7 NLT
Peter says, “When our faith is tested, that is the moment of great joy.” That’s not usually the way we see it, though, is it? We don’t want the testing that comes in our life. It’s painful. But there is no pure metal without refining and our faith, likewise, must be refined. How badly do you want your faith to shine purely when Jesus is revealed? Bad enough for it to be tested?
Faith that is not tested is no faith at all. If you believe because everything is going well in your life, what does that prove? It is when you believe in spite of the difficulties, in spite of the troubles, then you know you have faith. In fact, it is because of the difficulties and because of the troubles that you can be confident that you are really in the faith. Trouble doesn’t prove God hates you—trouble proves you’re on the right side.
In too many cases we preachers mislead people. We tell them to accept Christ so all their problems can be solved. But the opposite may well be the case. When you’re not a Christian the devil doesn’t care much what you do. As long as you keep your helmet below the top of the trench nobody’s going to shoot at you. But if you stick your head up and say, “I’m for the Lord,” you ought not to be surprised if some hand grenades come flying in your direction. Testing!
Live in the knowledge that the testing which you are presently enduring is the proof of the reality of your faith and of your relationship to Him—an incorruptible inheritance. In fact, rejoice in the opportunity this test gives you to drive the stake of your faith down deeper and to raise its flag that much higher.
Called To Be Transformed 