“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6).

I will be honest: if you come to me with a crisis you are going through, the verse above is not what will come out of my mouth in an effort to provide comfort (although it should be, because it is biblical). In this passage, Peter is not explaining the reason behind the trials, nor is he giving them advice about how to escape. Instead, he is helping them to be ready for the inevitable. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being soberminded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

Let us go back to the Exodus. As Israel celebrated on the far shore of the Red Sea after their miraculous crossing, it seemed that everything was going their way. Yet no more than three days in, they found themselves with no drinking water, and it got worse from there. The frustrating thing is that they knew that their God, who had miraculously rescued them from the Egyptians, could have made their entire journey a smooth ride. “Why would the Lord do this to us?” they grumbled (Ex. 15:24). We can hardly criticize them because we ask the same question.

The better question to ask when trials, tests, and temptations come our way is: “Lord, what do you want me to learn from this?”  The Israelites learned about their lack of faith in God and their bent toward grumbling rather than gratitude. Testing trains us to see and be grateful for the Lord’s provision without taking Him for granted. It is one thing to say we are trusting God for our daily bread; it is quite another to testify that he provided all our needs while we wandered in the wilderness*.

In the next few devotionals, we will discuss more examples of trials, temptations, and testing found in the Scriptures and how we can learn to be more dependent on God and the power of His strength.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Judy

*from “Israel’s Testing in the Wilderness,” TABLETALK Magazine, August 2023.