In other words, this dear hurting woman was crying out for real hope in crisis. Not more hype in crisis. She was tired of the “Church Show”. The church’s greatest weapon in the world today is not another program, it is a GREATER HOPE. She posted pictures of her husband’s last labored smile from a hospital bed and then, a picture of herself, alone, with two young children. It was taken only days after her husband passed away. She continued her exhortation to the leadership of the trendy churches of our day. . .

“Church leaders, remember that you are not just trying to attract the hip and the cool to your church. You are reaching widows. You are reaching children who don't have a parent. You are reaching someone battling with a disease. You are reaching a person going through a divorce. You are reaching a businessman who thinks they have all that they need. You are reaching the hurting. And the only thing they need is Jesus.”

She’s right, you know. Life is full of hurting people – who really need Jesus! The tragedy of our day is that we’ve let go of our only hope.

The greatest temptation of the contemporary church is to accessorize the Gospel. While I do admit, not all that is new is evil, what is so sad is how we are now embarrassed about the centrality of preaching truth. We don’t abide long sermons and lectures about God. Give us a dash of pop music here and a splash of preachers there prancing about in faded jeans and sweat shirts. Crank up the volume and tone down the doctrine. Wave your hands wildly and dance your troubles away! By all means, leave church feeling good about yourself. And better yet, if the preacher tells you how to be a more “amped-up” version of you! Pain is not precious to us in the church today – feeling good is. This is not the message of Peter or of the early Puritans.

How far removed we are from the way the Puritans left their Sunday encounters with God! They left in tears, hearts full of sound doctrine and crying out for mercy! That’s church the way it used to be. The only doctrine we abide anymore is that which is injected in small doses behind the laughter of Christian comedy or what’s imbedded in the lyrics we’ve wrapped behind the guise of Christian music, so called.

Real pain changes all that. It makes us hungry for truth. Peter knew that, so he writes to the hurting churches in Asia Minor because they were hated and hunted and hurting in the “fires” of Rome. He knew that that pain, pain of all kinds, has one precious benefit. It transports us from the temporary and sets us to thinking about eternity. Real answers to the incessant nature of trials aren’t found in snappy music, stage lighting, skinny lattes and Christian comedy. Our trials, Peter reminds us, are more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7) because they bring us to the end of what we can do for ourselves. In I Peter 1, the Spirit of God sweeps us away from our huddled and selfish perspectives to one that is heavenly. He informs our suffering by presenting trials in three glorious truths:

YOUR TRIAL IS PRECIOUS – IT IS PART OF THE GREATEST PLAN EVER!
No surprises or random accidents. It started with God’s choice of YOU in eternity past (v. 2-6) and will continue through this present life and will one day be consummated at His appearing in Glory. At no time is God absent or careless. Yes, for a while, God is testing you but God’s love for you predates your first birthday; you can be sure it transcends time. He who began a good work will complete it. Nothing can separate you from God’s prior decision to love you and bring you to glory. He is keeping you all the way through. He finishes what He begins. Always.

YOUR TRIAL IS PRECIOUS – GOD IS GETTING YOU READY FOR A GREATER MOMENT (v. 7)
Yes, now it hurts all over but Heaven will be the “pain free zone” And it will start with a wedding. As a bride adorned for her husband, God is using the fires of life to adorn you for your future ministry and celebration in heaven. Every trial is an investment in a future joy (v. 7). God knows that nothing beautifies you like suffering. He knows exactly which kind of fire you need and for how long you can endure it. Heaven will be the big reveal of the glory and honor and praise of the bride for her husband. Oh, what a moment, when you come forth as gold. Precious gold.

YOUR TRIAL IS PRECIOUS – IT IS SO GREATLY NEEDED (v. 6)
Says, “if need be” As much as I hate to admit it, my greatest teachers have been my “troubles”. Hard teachers, tough coaches, long struggles, prickly people, uphill climbs. So, thank you trouble! I never like to see you come but when you do, I learn to come to the Lord… humble, out of breath, bleeding, cut down to size, and bruised by your gracious hand. Slowly, I learn to do it God’s way and to depend upon Him for everything. How sweet is that?

Prayers upward, blessings downward, power inward, gospel outward, church onward, Heaven forward!