1 Peter 1:3-9 expounds on the “trial of our faith.” Faith is a gift of God given proportionally to each of us individually. As we walk in the light we receive, God increases our faith, but it has to be tried and proven. Peter calls this the trial of our faith as we daily prove Him.
Verse 4 describes our inheritance as incorruptible, undefiled, unfading and reserved for us in heaven. Heaven is where the presence of God is and we can have days of heaven on earth. Part of heaven is the unseen, invisible Kingdom of God within us and has to be worked out.
Verse 5 declares “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” We have to know and prove what is the perfect and acceptable will of God for us, as our faith is tried, producing gold for the glory of God and “living bread” to feed the hungry of the world in this “last time.”
We are not travelling to heaven on flowery beds of ease but through the trial of our faith. Jesus said, “Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” Matthew 11:28-30.
There is a big difference between the trial of your faith and being out of the will of God. During the “trial” the attendant infallible proofs of joy and peace are present AMIDST the circumstances, but joy and peace are absent when I am out of God’s will. Romans 15:13, “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Amidst the trial we are carried by the Lord as our faith is tried.
When God takes me down one mile in to the valley, do I murmur and complain like the children of Israel in the wilderness, and judge God as being unfair and unrighteous? If I do, when He takes me one mile up the mountain in blessing, it is the same place where I would be capable of walking away from Him.
God is seeking to transform my mind so I do not conform to the world and it’s earthly standards of “eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” Genesis 3.
Psalm 78 describes the history of the children of Israel, from the exodus from Egypt to the wilderness miracles and provision to an unfaithful people. They experienced awesome miracles of God first hand, yet the experiences did not keep them faithful to Him. God seeks to bring us to a consistency that is depicted in the famous words of the following hymn by Madame Guyon:
All scenes alike engaging prove
To souls imprest with sacred love,
Where’er they dwell, they dwell in Thee,
In heaven, in earth or on the sea.
To me remain nor place nor time,
My country is in every clime,
I can be calm, and free from care,
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek or place we shun
The soul finds happiness in none,
But with my God to guide my way,
‘Tis equal joy to go or stay.
Could I be cast where Thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot,
But regions non remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.
Isaiah 40:3-5 encourages us to “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Oh!…that we are brought to the place where we declare, “True and righteous are all your ways, O God!” My choice is that I praise Him and glorify Him in whatever circumstances I am in. I choose to let God be true. He is not a respecter of persons thus the grace He has given to some is available to all. The trial of our faith is absolutely expedient for us to prove God in our lives.
Signs and wonders will follow those that believe, they are not to be sought after. An intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit is what I should be seeking more and more.
In spite of all the supernatural, amazing miracles in the wilderness, the children of Israel still murmured and denied God. The miracles did not keep them steadfast and faithful. Only two of that generation, Joshua and Caleb, entered the Promised Land.
“Dear Lord, please keep me true.” We have been apprehended by the high calling of our wonderful, loving God. All the promises of God for our eternal destiny are contained in the Indwelling Christ, resident within us. Let us yield to Him, in the trial of our faith, swing wide the doors of our heart and let the King out – King Jesus!
Amen opens! Jesus said “Out of his belly shall FLOW rivers of living water…”….not a trickle, not a dribble but a flowing river of living water. Let the King out! Let Jesus have His rightful place of rule in our hearts. Let us make that “highway for our God” in wilderness and in blessing. “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”
Let us experience the breath of heaven, the promises of God fulfilled in the extension of His Kingdom flowing through our lives, to His praise and glory. This a foretaste of heaven on earth!
