Trials

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

How do you tell if faith is genuine? How does it hold up to trials? That is the test that Peter puts forth in this passage of scripture. If your faith holds up during the trials of life it is genuine.

It is easy to praise God and serve Him when everything is going well. It is quite another thing to praise God and serve Him when you are in the middle of a fiery trial. When you go through trials but your faith is not shipwrecked by them, it brings glory to Jesus. Many believers suffer silent pain. There are circumstances that occur that produce fear. Many live with anxiety over the future. There are private struggles that we as believers go through that we just do not want to burden other people with. We think to ourselves, "They have their own problems, they don't want to hear about mine." So we pour our hearts out to God. And when we do it legitimizes our faith. When you depend on the Lord to help you deal with your pain, He notices whether or not any one else does. One day when we get to heaven, all that private pain that we experienced that we allowed God to see us through, it will be proclaimed openly in heaven that we suffered well, and made it through with our faith in tact. That testimony will be the testimony that the Savior glories in!!!

Pour your heart out to God today. Give Him your pain. It is when you take your pain to Him, and rely on Him to get you through that your faith is shown to be most genuine.