DEALING WITH LIFE--1 PET. 1:6-9

Intro: About 2,500 years ago, Solomon looked at the course of human existence and concluded that life is vanity, or emptiness - Eccl. 2:18-23. He saw righteous people suffer and felt that it was an injustice. I believe Job may have felt much this way during his time of trial. Many if not all of you have either gone through or maybe are going through trial’s and difficulties and had questions, doubts and concerns. Let me assure you that everything isn't doom and gloom, things may look bad and you may be dealing with something very serious! But believe it or not, we believers have it pretty good!  Peter gives us several reasons to rejoice

·         v. 3, We have a Living Hope

·         v. 4 We have a Lasting Inheritance

·         v. 5 We have a Long-term Salvation

·         v. 6 We have a Longed for Final Reward

With all this in mind, let me say that not all is bad! In fact, there is much cause for rejoicing in the Lord today! And, we need to get about the business of doing just that!

We must realize, there’ll be trials that come our way. We may not understand them, but we need to be prepared for them just the same. That’s Peter's purpose in these verses. He wants to encourage his readers, but he also wants to prepare them for what is surely to come.

 I. V. 6 A WORD ABOUT REALITY

A. Rejoicing Is Our Common State - If you spend enough time around some believers, you’ll come away feeling that the Christian life’s one big series of problems and that there’s no reason for praise. In reality though, we’re to be a rejoicing people.

We’re to rejoice in spite of our troubles (Luke 20:10)

B. Redemption Does Not Guarantee Us Immunity from Trials - Being saved is no hedge from trouble! Christians get sick! Christian marriages fall apart. Christian parents have trouble with their children. Christians have financial troubles. Christians fail God and make bad decisions causing problems in their lives that must be dealt with, Christians walk through some deep, dark valleys. Whether we have made the valley or whether it was made for us, we don’t have to walk it alone. Jesus said it plain in - John 16:33, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

(Remember that just because a trial came and took you by surprise and jerked the rug out from under your feet. It never took God by surprise! He knew about it before it happened and had already made a way to bring you out of that trial. (Heb 13:8).

C. Rough Times Are In Store For Everyone - (No one is immune from troubles and trials! The struggles of Job. His life was going well, he was blessed, had a healthy and happy family and job was right with God, but his life fell apart! Do not fall into the trap of these health and wealth preacher’s who tell you that if you are saved you will never have trouble again. This message is a lie. God wants you to know that there are going to be times when you’ll have battles! Sometimes these battles are going to be physical, some will be emotional, some mental and they all will involve you relation to and walk with the Lord. (Peter calls these trying times "manifold temptations." This means that they hit us from every side and with often devastating consequences.)

 II. V. 7 A WORD ABOUT REALIGNMENT

A. The Area of Our Trials - "The trial of your faith." When troubles do come, they seem to concentrate their power against our faith in the Lord. Satan wants to do all that he can to make Christians doubt the power of God to meet their need.

If anyone knew this, it was Peter. Jesus had already told him that he was going to die for Christ, (John 21:18) (John 21:19) Jesus had already told Peter to expect rejection from the world, and Peter had already suffered for his faith - Acts 4 and 12.

(Paul knew his share of suffering, Stephen suffered for Jesus, James was killed for his faith, Acts 12. It’s estimated that over 68 million believers have died during the last 2,000 years for the name of Jesus. Christians who find themselves suffering, especially for the faith, are in good company.)

B. The Alignment That Takes Place - (Peter speaks of the refining process that gold goes through. When the gold is subjected to the flame, the impurities in the gold come to the top. The result is far purer gold than that which was present before!)

C. The Abundance We Receive-Peter nudges us to remember that we aren't home yet! Our trials are working for our good-(Rom 8:28)

We may not see the benefit today, but when we stand before the Lord in Heaven, and we’re rewarded for our walk  and for the sufferings we endured, it’ll be worth it all them-2 Cor. 4:17.

(The young eagle - When it’s time to leave the nest, the mother will literally throw the infant from the nest. As he plummets to earth vainly attempting to fly, he fears sure and certain death. At the last moment, his mother swoops down from above, catches him, and carries him back to the safety of the nest. This is repeated several times over the next few days. Finally, the little eaglet will spread his wings and soar upward. Eventually, he’ll be able to fly above all the storms below, but only because he endured the fear of falling. Just like that mother eagle, God knows best. He’ll not let you crash and burn. He just allows what He does to strengthen your faith and to grow you up in Him. If the Lord never allowed us to fail, never allowed trials and temptations, and never called us to service where we’re not experienced, we’d never seek His help, never seek His guidance, never experience His moving and we’d never grow!)

 III. V. 8 A WORD ABOUT RELIABILITY-(Not that God can count on us, but that we can count on Him!) (Ill. As we weather the storms of life and see God come through time and again, we can actually learn to develop a spirit of praise as we journey toward Heaven. We will find that our unseen Savior will see us through every trial! When we face trials, He goes through them with us. He’ll never leave us nor forsake us - Heb. 13:5; His grace is sufficient for every need-2 Cor. 12:9. This ought to cause us to be filled with that unspeakable joy of verse 8!)

Conc: I do not know why the Lord allows certain things to happen in folks lives, nor why He has allowed certain things to happen in my own life. I have came to realize this though, God has a plan, and His plan is perfect and doesn’t need any adjustment. God knows what he wants to accomplish and knows how to get there, whether we understand or not isn’t important. What’s important is that we accept, follow, obey and when necessary repent, seek forgiveness and move ahead with the situation we have, allowing God to use us, living for Him and making the best of the situation and circumstances.