In this you greatly rejoice, 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 1:6-7 (NIV)
Gold, like every other created thing, will eventually perish. But your faith, if it is authentic, will last for eternity. So how do you know if your faith is genuine? Peter tells us. When you suffer grief in all kinds of trials, you will have all the evidence you need that your faith is authentic.
If your faith was a just a human decision or a passing phase or a religious interest, then as soon as you began to suffer, you would renounce your faith, turn away from God, and spend the rest of your life saying you can no longer believe in God, smoldering away in bitterness and resentment against Him.
Faith that is the genuine article is a miracle. It is a living seed of the life of God planted in your soul, and it is indestructible. There can be no greater evidence of the authenticity of your faith than to go through trials and face unanswered questions yet love and believe in Jesus.
And faith which has proved genuine through trials in your life is one day going to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. One day, He is going to wipe every tear from your eyes, and you will hear His voice saying to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant!… Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Mat. 25:23).
When you suffer grief and all kinds of trials, the fact that you still love Jesus and believe in Him shows that you have something of infinite value. You can hold on to that.
What are some trials God has used to show you that your faith is genuine?
