Rejoicing in Pain

Although no one enjoys painful trials, they are a necessity for the Christian life. Apostle Peter says that our trials are a sign that the goal of our faith is being accomplished. Through them, God is working to purify us and teach us to depend on the Father, all the while making us more like Christ. Just as fire tests and purifies gold, so God is testing and purifying our faith, “and our faith is far more precious to God than mere old.”

So God allows us to go through trials because of how precious we are to Him. It hurts, it’s painful and God knows that and feels compassion toward us. But he doesn’t always take away the pain because of what the pain produces in our lives. 

God has a purpose in our lives that will not be accomplished without suffering. Suffering exposes the games we play in an attempt to run our own lives and trust ourselves rather than God. Our loving Father knows that this is far more dangerous to our souls than the suffering that comes our way. Only when we learn to walk in dependence on Him can we experience the intimacy that our souls are thirsty for.

Peter concludes that we have exceedingly great reason to rejoice, even in the midst of our trials, because our trials are accomplishing for us a blessedness that can never perish, spoil or fade. In the midst of crisis, that is our hope. (k.ricafort)