(The labor of bringing new life and the grinding of the turner's lathe-- two examples of pain that bears lovely consequences.)
"... though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
1 Peter 1:5-7
Where are you hurting right now? Do you feel hemmed in by circumstances over which you have no control? Has it been a glancing blow you didn't see coming, or is it a thing which has dripped and dripped day after day until the concave place worn by the first eon of this is quickly growing into a deep cavity? Do you pace in your cage and stare wistfully through the bars to a freedom that you can scarcely remember ? Is "hope" dwindling into a word for naive idealists? Peter's first letter is addressed to " God's elect strangers in the world, scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappodocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood..." It is addressed to us. We have been chosen through the Spirit for obedience. That is why we are alive-- to bring glory to our God by obedience to Him.
But obedience is such a big word! It's hard to keep our little minds wrapped around everything that job requires of us at any given moment. Some times are easier than others to see what we are being called upon to obey Him in. And when we suffer, we wonder if it is because we slipped up somewhere and let something get past us whose consequences now must visit us as a result of our sloppiness or negligence, our laziness, or maybe even some rebellion about which we have been in denial. When this happens to me, it doesn't take long to find something to convict in myself-- usually several somethings. Of course, sometimes my suffering might not so much be related to anything I've done wrong. Maybe it's because of something someone else did or failed to do.
But the point of this scripture is that the place we should always look first is to God-- and not just for answers to "why?" Maybe that's really none of our business right now. What is always our business is "what?" What can I do with this that will make me more genuine? What can I do to use this thing so that it will result in praise and glory to God? Ask Him these things, and then expect Him to answer you.
When you read this whole section of scripture, it really does sound like Peter has a tone of celebration even though he is talking about persecution. We must try to remember, in times of trial and suffering, that everything is not really centered on us. There is much going on within the Kingdom of God, and I am not always the main character. I am a character, though, and therefore, I must be content to be used to resolve the conflicts and affect the outcome in the master plot. The Author is infinitely wiser than I , and if I am to help His story along, then rather than wishing to tear out all the pages I don't like or mark through, like an angry child with a red crayon, all the lines I cannot understand, I must keep turning the pages in joyful anticipation of what He will do next.
That we can learn to celebrate in the midst of persecution is a great mystery, to be sure, but it is the way that Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.
[From Broken Jar: 365 Days on the Potter's Wheel]
