Wednesday, October 1, 2014
1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you: but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
A TEST OF FAITH
A while back I saw a rock climber out in the Cascades. He was climbing up one side of a huge jutting rock that looked something like the horn of a rhinoceros. The rope attached to his harness went up to the top, through a carabiner, and down to his climbing partner. At a particularly sketchy part of the route, the climber lost his grip on the wall and fell. Because the carabiner was attached high up on the horn of the route, when the climber fell, he swung out away from the wall in a huge arch which pendulumed about three stories over the path below.
As he started to fall he let out a cry, but to my surprise, as he pendulumed the cry turned into a whoop of excited joy. He hadn't intended to fall, but he had known two things. One, a fall was possible. And two, he was safe. He trusted his climbing partner not to let go of the rope.
Like that climber who wasn't afraid of falling, when we experience persecution for our faith, we don't have to fear. We know that God won't let go of us.
Peter says that when we suffer because of faith in Christ we should "keep on rejoicing." A "faith" that only trusts when the going is good isn't much of a faith.
Peter says we should keep on rejoicing in the middle of the storm, because we know what Jesus suffered for us, and we know what came after his trial. His suffering and death was followed by Easter. His fiery ordeal was followed by resurrection and glory, and if we cling to Christ, our trials will end with resurrection and glory too.
