1 Peter 1:6-7

In all 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 the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. – 1 Peter 1:6-7

Dear Jesus,

When you brought me to faith, what changed me was the grace that covered my sins and the mercy that promised me heaven.  I now look at myself as deeply loved and extremely blessed.  I sometimes wonder if I am supposed to experience fewer trials on earth since I am your child.  But then I remember that you use trials to refine my faith and attitude and to make me long for heaven where all evil will have run its course and will have fallen into the lake of fire.  Help me to hang on to this truth so when I so experience trouble in this life I do not lose heart or faith.  It’s all about the salvation of the inner man now and the outer man later.  Help me live by this faith and not by sight.

Amen

Pastor Don Patterson

Trials have nothing to do with our status as God’s child but everything to do with our purification as his precious spiritual metal.