Coping with Our Present Suffering
By Rev Charles Seet
(Preached at Life BPC, 8 am Service, 8 April 2001)

Text: 1 Peter 1:6-9

A topic like this will always be relevant to God’s people, because the Christian life is not a bed of roses. God never promised us a trouble-free life but He promised to be with us through every trial we face. Everyone who belongs to Christ will therefore face his or her share of trials and suffering. As long as we live in this fallen and sinful world, in bodies that are still corrupt and subject to the curse of original sin, we will always have to contend with changes, illnesses, setbacks, and difficulties from our circumstances. Some of us here may know the sorrow of losing a loved one to cancer or to some other debilitating illness. Others may know the bitterness of a broken relationship. And perhaps many have faced awful seasons of failure and disappointment, or the agony of being retrenched and not being able to find a job.

Dearly beloved, all these things are an unavoidable part and parcel of life on this side of glory! They sometimes affect us so badly that we feel as if our whole life is collapsing and that we can’t hold on much longer. But we still have to accept them. There is however one positive thing that we can do: And that is to learn how we may best cope them. The good news is that all Christians can actually be blessed with the ability to cope so well with the trials we face, that we can even rejoice in them! James says this at the very beginning of his book – “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (James 1:2). If it is impossible for a believer to count it all joy to face our trials on earth, surely it would be unfair for us to be given this command in God’s inspired Word. But since the command is given, it must be possible. And since it is possible, we must by all means learn to rejoice even in the midst of trials.

I remember one unforgettable day about 5 years ago, when my family and I were staying on the Hilltop in the Philippines, there came a huge typhoon right through the place where we lived. As we looked out the closed window of our home, we could see branches and leaves flying everywhere, and one big tree came crashing down to the ground quite near to us! For several hours the howling winds (160 kmh) forced water to seep into our home through the gaps in the windows, and we had to keep mopping the floor. But in the midst of all that we were praying and singing the familiar children’s chorus: “With Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm,….” We thank God that we were able to smile at that storm, and so to cope with that trial. Many others have had to learn to cope with worse trials than this.

About 300 years ago the young John Wesley was on board a ship that was caught in a terrible storm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. As the winds and waves grew stronger and stronger, John Wesley grew more and more terrified until he thought that the ship will surely sink and he will surely die. But on that same ship there was a family of Moravian Christians. And even in the very worst part of the storm they were all calmly singing hymns of praise to God. Wesley saw them and he was absolutely amazed that they could do that. He knew they had something that he lacked – the ability to praise God and rejoice even in the most trying moments of life!

The apostle Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) And he himself set a perfect example of this when he was imprisoned with Silas in a jail at Philippi. The account of this in Acts 16 tells us that after being unjustly arrested, humiliated, whipped and bound in stocks in the prison cell, the two of them prayed and sang praises to God at midnight! And God later sent a mighty earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison and set them all free!

Dearly beloved, as you hear of these instances of rejoicing in the midst of suffering and trials, perhaps you should ask yourself the question: Are you able to praise God no matter what circumstances you face? Are you able to say like Job, “the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)? All of us, I’m sure would like very much to be able to do that, but we also know that it is easier said than done. It is easy for us to praise God spontaneously when He provides good things. But when things go against us, and we have to struggle and endure some degree of hardship and suffering, that’s the time when we find it so hard to praise Him.

Can we say that during the trials we have faced our lives have been characterised by sincere and heartfelt praise to God? Were we rejoicing in our hearts in the Lord? What was it that enabled God’s people to rejoice when they were going through worse things than we are going through now? How can we also be praising God and genuinely rejoicing in adverse circumstances? What Biblical perspectives are there to help us? One book in our Bibles that can help us in understanding trials of faith is the first epistle of Peter.

The inspired writer of this epistle was a man who had learned the principles of coping in the midst of suffering. The book of Acts relates an incident when Peter was imprisoned and awaiting execution, and yet he was found sleeping very peacefully when an angel came to deliver him. Now, how was he able to do that? This epistle he wrote provides us the key to this. We find that one of the important concepts that he brings out in these epistles is “Having faith in God the midst of suffering.” Peter was greatly concerned that believers should apply their faith in God well during times of trial and suffering. When faith is properly applied, believers will not only find peace and much comfort in the midst of trial, but even great rejoicing!

How can this be possible? How can we find any cause for rejoicing when things are really not going well for us at all? From our study of God’s Word this morning we will see that We can do this, when our faith is applied in 3 ways: Firstly, we need to apply faith in the power of God to keep us. Secondly, we need to apply faith in the purpose of God to try us. And thirdly, we need to apply faith in the promise of God to reward us. Let us take a closer look at each of these.

I. The Power of God to Keep Us.

The first point we want to consider is applying faith in the power of God to keep us. There are times in our life when we are afraid that something will go wrong in our lives. We become worried because we feel threatened by the circumstances we are in. It is in moments like these that we need to be convinced by faith that our God is the omnipotent God who has the power to keep us! And there is no power that can keep us the way that God’s power can! Verses 3-5 of our text express this fact. We observe that in v.6 Peter says, “Wherein ye greatly rejoice.” This means that all that is said in vv.3-5 is meant to make us rejoice and encourage our hearts. So let us expect to be encouraged now, as we learn more about this divine keeping.

In v.3 we see that it originates with divine mercy. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again....” We notice here that Peter describes God’s mercy to us as being abundant. This word ‘abundant’ does not merely mean ‘enough’. It means ‘more than enough’. It means that the extent of God’s mercy toward us is so great that it actually overflows. Peter seems to be having the same sentiments as the Psalmist who said, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear him.” (Psalm 103:11) The idea behind all these descriptions is that God’s mercy has no limit.

But that is not all. The same thing is also true about God’s power. There is absolutely no limit at all to God’s power. How powerful is God’s power? It is the same power that according to v.3, has caused us to be begotten into a lively hope – the power that regenerates sinners into saints. All the power that man knows about – whether electric power, solar power or nuclear power – cannot change a sinner’s heart. But God’s power is able do that! And that is the same power by which  we are now kept, according to v.5—“by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The word for “keep” used here does not mean keeping things stored away in a cupboard or drawer until they become mouldy. Actually it is a military term commony used for guarding and protecting. The power of God is able to keep us from falling till we are presented faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. This power now safeguards us within limits beyond which there is only danger and utter failure. It warns us when we venture too far off in our own foolishness and weakness. It keeps us walking in the paths of righteousness, and never fails to chastise us when we go astray. This power will not rest until we have reached that salvation ready to be revealed at the last time.

Therefore in view of these two foundational facts in vv.3-5 of our text: namely the abundant mercy that the Lord has for us, and the power the Lord has to keep us, we can rest with the full assurance that we will be guarded and protected by Him through all circumstances of life. We need not be anxious about what can happen to us, or about what the final outcome will be, because the Lord Himself will keep us! That final outcome is already fully settled, confirmed and assured for us.

In v.4,5 Peter says that the inheritance God has for each of us has already been reserved in heaven for us, and is already ready to be revealed in the last time. That inheritance is as good as ours! God’s unlimited mercy and power is the guarantee of it!

Dearly beloved, if you can only grasp this fully and firmly in your heart and mind, you will be able to persevere through every trial you face. When you find yourself being sorely tested and you begin to doubt and lose faith, please remind yourself about these two things: The unlimited mercy God has for you, and the unlimited power He has to keep you. And this is not the only thing that can help us to cope with our present suffering. We now go on to the second way we should apply our faith in order to cope with our present suffering:

II.The Purpose of God to Try Us

This second way is applying faith in the purpose of God to try us. Let us read v.7 again—“That the trial of your faith, bring much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Here God’s Word clearly says we ought to realize that the trials we face in life have a divine purpose. They are not there by merely chance or accident, but by God’s intricately-planned design. They have all been deliberately planned and put into our lives for our own benefit.

Now, trials can be very distressing and very emotionally draining experiences. And the question that is usually uppermost in our minds when we are in the midst of trials is “Why?” We ask the Lord “Why must this happen to us, Lord?” “Why must it be so painful?” And for an answer the Lord gives us an illustration. 1 Peter 1:7 – “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”

In this verse, Peter uses the refining process of gold as an analogy to the purifying of faith through trials. And I would like to draw the analogy a little further.

The faith that we have now is like unrefined raw gold ore that has just been dug out from a gold mine. There are three stages in the whole refining process. The first stage is to separate the gold ore from sand and gravel by using flowing water.

The sand and gravel get washed away, while the gold ore, which is heavier, sinks and remains. In the second stage, mercury is added to the gold ore. This liquid metal combines immediately with the gold and makes it very brittle, so that it can easily be separated from other material. In the final stage of the refining process, the gold ore is placed into a crucible and subjected to intense heat, so that melts into molten gold. This vaporises away the mercury that was added in the second stage, and also burns away any remaining impurities. The end-result of all this is pure gold, which is both beautiful and precious. As we all know, gold is one of man’s most prized objects. In events like the Olympic games, the first prize is always the gold medal.

Gold is the most precious metal to man, but for the Christian, faith is even more precious than gold. Our faith also needs to be refined like gold. This refining takes place as we go through the various phases of trials in our lives. Some trials we face can be likened to being flooded with flowing streams of water that wash away much of the sins of fear and doubt that are in our lives. Other trials may be likened to having burdens added to us till we become aware of how weak and brittle we are, and learn to rely totally on the Lord for strength and provision. The trials that we dread the most may be likened to being in a fire. Though going through them is painful and most distressing to us, they are most effective to purify our faith in the Lord until it reaches its best form, a form that is many times more precious than the purest gold.

Trials are one of the means God uses to accomplish His mighty work in our lives. By putting us through them, he refines us. Our faith matures. We become like Christ. We develop virtues. We become less and less dependent upon ourselves and more dependent upon God. Through trials we become better than what we were before. And because of this we ought to endure them patiently and willingly. We endure them now with understanding and with trust in God who lovingly brings these trials into our lives. And we can trust that being the expert refiner that he is, the Lord knows the exact amount of trials we can take, and He will not allow us to suffer more than we can take. As His Word tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 – “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

And more than that, we can also endure all these trials with hope, knowing that they will soon come to an end. The purifying process need not be a long one. Trials do not go on forever, although at the time we are going through them, they seem to be eternal. We read in v.6 that we “are in heaviness through manifold tempations for a season.”

Let me ask you this question: How long is a season? Not long at all. This is really an old English word used for describing a short length of time. Of course, when we are actually in the process of going through a trial it seems as if there is no end to it. Time seems to go by at a dreadfully slow pace when we are suffering. But take heart. It will soon come to an end. And we can look forward to that. And one day when it is all over, we might even be able to look back and see that something good has come out of it.

So these are the two ways we can apply our faith when our circumstances become difficult: By considering the power of God to keep us, and by considering also the purpose of God to try us. Now we come to a third and final way faith can be applied for coping with trials, and that is to consider:

III. The Promise of God to Reward Us.

In v.7, The apostle Peter draws our attention away from the painful experience of trials, and tells us to look forward instead, to the praise, honour and glory that will accompany the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just the thought that we will be seeing Jesus one day can fill our hearts with joy and make our trials much easier to bear. Peter describes this joy in v.8 as a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Can you imagine yourself on the day of the appearing of Jesus Christ, beholding the Saviour whom you had waited for, for so long? Can you imagine what it will actually be like to meet with the Lord himself who had given His own life to redeem you? Can you imagine the moment when you will receive the crowning object of your faith: the eternal bliss of life with Christ in heaven?

If that will be the final outcome of our trials, then every effort we make now to endure and to persevere through them is more than worthwhile. The joy and wonder of that blessed encouter with Christ will far exceed all the suffering that we have gone through in this life.

Dearly beloved, there is no doubt that you and I need to know these things concerning the ways we can apply our faith when going through trials. God has made them clear to us in His Word because He knows that we need them. The power of God to keep us, the purpose of God to try us, and the promise of God to reward us, are just three of the many great encouragements we can gain from His Word to cope with our present suffering. Let us keep our eyes upon them, and never forget them.