The Positive Side of A Trial

Introduction: The Oxymoron of Enduring Trials

Recently, in one of my devotionals, I learned of a story concerning a highly accomplished lawyer, businessman, and Presbyterian elder, named Horatio Spafford.

Spafford was married to Anna and they had five (5) children together. In 1871, they lost their young son to pneumonia, and in that same year, lost much of their business to a fire in Chicago. They were getting hit with tragedy after tragedy.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? You’re being overwhelmed by what feels like various trials.

In 1873, a ship carrying 313 passengers from the U.S. to Europe set sail, carrying Spafford’s wife and his four daughters. Spafford stayed in Chicago to resolve a business matter with plans to join them later. However, as the ship was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it collided with another ship causing it sink within 12 minutes. 226 of the passengers, including Spafford’s four daughters, were killed.

His wife sent a telegram, sharing the news with a message saying, “Saved alone, what shall I do?” What a tragedy!

Spafford booked a ticket to return to his only surviving family member and grieving wife. As the ship sailed across the Atlantic, the sailor called Spafford to the his cabin and noted that the very space they were sailing over was the place where the ship sunk and his daughters lost their life. At that moment, Spafford wrote these words as he sailed over the very spot where his daughters’ lives were taken:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say It is well, it is well, with my soul.

The words of this song is filled with a man’s conviction of the sovereignty of God. It clearly presents the theological framework of a man who has recognized, God’s sovereignty does not always warrant one’s comfort. But rather, the sovereignty of God may subject one to tragedy like the loss of a love one.

When I initially heard this story, I asked the question, how can a man, so immediately, find this kind of peace and resolve in such tragedy? I immediately thought, it is not normal to be this content with such a loss. What is wrong with him? Then, the Lord showed me, actually, its not so normal [for a Christian] to be so discontent with the will of God.

Ouch! Lord have mercy!

Then, I began to pray, Lord please keep me from experiencing trials! But then, I became stomped with the question of what happens if trial hits, for surely it will.

In our text, Peter does not teach the believers to avoid trials. Rather, he tells them to rejoice and be glad in the midst of them

1 Peter 1:6 “6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”

Submitting to the sovereignty of God is one thing, but rejoicing and being glad is another thing. The question becomes, how do we move from accepting God’s will to now rejoicing in His will? How do we find the courage and the fortitude to not only accept what God allows, but praise Him for it—even when it hurts us?

The Other Side of a Trial

When we think about the tremendous task of glorying in less than ideal circumstances, we are simply relying on one thing that could encourage such behavior. In fact, this one thing is probably the only thing that could motivate someone to have this sort of reaction to a trial of this magnitude.

Many of us have failed at the responsibility of being glad during a trial, because we have been using the wrong tools. Some of us have been trying:

Worship music

Affirmations

Counseling

Changing churches

YouTube preachers

And out of all these things, however good they may be, we have not found that secret to being glad during trials. There’s only one secret to being glad and rejoicing during a trial, and without this nothing we do ever seems to work.

The one weapon that will give us the ability to rejoice and be glad during trials is HOPE! Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Peter teaches, because of the mercy of God and Jesus Christ, we have been born again, and this rebirth granted us a living hope. This is a basic concept of the New Testament. It is found all over Scripture that the new birth not only causes a new birth within the individual, but as a result of that birth, a new hope.

But even this is not simply a new hope as to say, different from the one I had before. It is a living hope, implying that any other hope is dead.

In essence, Peter is teaching because Jesus rose again my hope has risen as well. And more, this hope is not only alive but it is a life-giving hope.

one writer stated, This hope is life-giving because “it is divine and eternal, given through the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and bound up with His eternal life.” Bigg, C. (1901). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude (p. 100). T&T Clark International.

That is—because my hope is in eternal, temporary situations do not have power over an eternal solution (which is rooted in Christ Jesus.) When our hope is in the eternal work of Jesus Christ, our natural response to a trial is gladness and joy, because we understand there’s a victory coming right after this. If there’s no trial, there’s no victory. But with this hope, our victory is guaranteed and that’s a reason to be glad and full of joy.

Rejoicing is our response to a life filled with joy!

What Are My Trials Accomplishing?

So, the next question we must tackle is the purpose and productivity of my trials. I assume my trials are productive, but the question is how are they productive? First we must understand the meaning of trials.

Trials or temptations (1 Peter 1:6) are not negative occurences in our life. Rather, they are examinations, investigations, and an attempt to learn the nature and character of something. This is similar to a preventive medical visit or the testing of a prototype before it goes to manufacturing. It is a way of discovering the true essence of a thing.

Trials and temptations are not always painful or torturous. However, they are investigative, imposing, and revealing. Some of us, don’t like trials because it shows who we really are. Nothing shows who we really are like a trial or temptation.

We may say we will never eat cake, but we will never know until a piece is placed right in front of us. We may say we will never be unfaithful to our spouse, but you don’t know until you have experienced a trial that reveals what’s deep and on the inside. We may say we will never be broke again, but you never know until you get that money you’ve always been waiting for. We may say we will never leave God, but we will never know until a trial comes along that provides us the opportunity.

Notice, none of these things are inherently painful. But they are indeed trials, because they reveal who we really are.

Temptation does comes to discover what’s really behind the praise we offer in church. It comes to make sense of the things we have promised God in those tight moments. It comes to prove what we portray before others.

But notice the confidence of Peter in 1 Peter 1:7, “7 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.”

Peter is ultimately confident in the ability of the believers. He understands, as Keener acknowledges, God uses temptations to prove the quality of His people; Satan uses temptations to destroy the testimony of God’s people.

Here are three things temptations accomplish (1 Peter 1:7):

Proves the genuineness of our faith

Shows the value of your faith

Brings praise and glory and honor to your faith

Conclusion

Here are three things I can conclude about trials. I can endure trial when:

I know the purpose of the trial

1 Peter 1:7 “7 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.”

I know the outcome of the trial

1 Peter 1:9 “9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.”

I know the duration of the trial

1 Peter 1:6 “6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”