The joy of the trial

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trails, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of you faith, the salvation of your souls." ~1 Peter 1:3-9

Mark Driscoll expounded upon this passage in one of the better sermons I have ever heard. The fact of the Bible being proclaimed aside, part of the impact was the method by which he delivered it, while the other was the condition of my heart. I watched this sermon in the midst of my job search last fall. I spent from the end of February to the beginning of the last school year trying to land a teaching job. Having come out of it empty, I resolved to let bitterness, frustration, and grief consume me. I saw the trial God had me in, but lacked any faith that He would lead me through it. His will was, then, to use this sermon to brake me down. I can remember watching it in the basement of my parent's house hoping to hear about how God promises to provide us with a quick-fix to all our trials. Instead, I found myself in tears by the end. My tears were those of a man broken by His sin and in need of God's mercy along with a man at the end of his strength, which is exactly where God wanted me. I firmly believe most of the growth I experienced over the course of last year was the fruit of this passage taking root in my heart.

I committed this verse to memory (though I have failed to brush up on it recently), and created an outline which I kept by my bed. I liked to look at it every morning to remind myself of the joy I have, especially when facing trials of all kinds. I placed it in my journal when I moved, but forgot to reestablish it in the correct location. Thankfully, Micah 4:12 brought this passage back my attention;

"But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan, they do not understand his plan that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor."

The main point of this passage was a promise to Israel about the future of her enemies. God would bring them into the threshing floor where the chaff would be beaten from them. Israel, would then reap the benefits of this divinely judged threshing. Even with that, this passage can also apply to God's children. We don't know all of the plans God has for us, but we do know sometimes the plans won't be easy. It will feel like we are on the threshing floor having all our chaff removed. It will hurt, a lot. We will cry out for it to stop on more than one occasion. However, once the chaff is removed the wheat will be ready. Ready to be turned into exactly what the Creator intended it for. We can find joy in the process of our sanctification. God is conforming us more and more into the image of His Son. What is worth rejoicing over more than that?