All of us face difficulties, trials, problems in life which are beyond our control. But what we can control is our response to them. We can choose our attitude. In 1 Peter 1:6-9, Peter presents the paradox of the Christian life. As Christians, we experience both sorrow and joy! Contrary to some who say that if a believer is sorrowful there must be sin in their lives, Jesus Christ, the perfect man, was the 'man of sorrow' who was acquainted with grief. He grieved over the deplorable spiritual condition of Israel. He cried at the death of his friend Lazarus. And for you and I, it is appropriate to sorrow over our sin, for godly sorrow leads to repentance. But God has a way of turning our sorrows into joy. We can learn to 'sing in the rain'. We can experience a joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. We can sing in the rain because we have a sure hope, a future inheritance. We can sing in the rain because we hold to sound teaching regarding suffering. We understand that suffering is temporary, necessary, purposeful in that God uses it to improve the quality of our faith and to prove the genuineness of it. And we understand that suffering will be rewarded. But we too can sing in the rain because we enjoy sweet fellowship with Jesus Christ. In fact, fellowship is the sweetest when we are experience hardship, pain, suffering. |