Today’s devotion is from 1 Peter 4:12 (TPT)
Beloved friends, if life gets extremely difficult, with many tests, don’t be bewildered as though something strange were overwhelming you. [The Aramaic adds a clause here, “because these things are your communion in the inheritance.”]
Tests, trials and hardship are part of the package in following Jesus…
Tests trials and hardship are a part of the believer’s life; some are spiritual in nature and are demonically caused or influenced, some come from people, and some hardship is in our lives because of our own actions. The bottom line is that you are always going to make mistakes that have consequences, some people are always going to cause problems in your life or come against you, and the devil and his demons are always going to be trying to steal, destroy and kill you. Do not think it strange, get discouraged or come under condemnation when this happens.
Jesus, as well as the apostles Paul, James and Peter, all repeatedly tell us to rejoice and to count it all joy when we face hardship, persecution or trials…
In Christ, God works all things together for our good; He turns tests into testimonies and trials and tribulations into triumphs. God does not ever cause hardship… (only good and perfect gifts come from our Heavenly Father without variation or exception), but, when hardship comes, He works it for our good.
A great example is Jehoshaphat - three armies attacked Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah, God did not cause that… it was as a result of jealousy toward Judah because of how blessed they were. Even though God did not cause the attack, He worked it for good for Jehoshaphat and Judah. God sent confusion among the three armies and caused them to turn on themselves and to kill each other.
When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away their spoil, they found among them an abundance of valuables on the dead bodies, and precious jewelry, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away; and they were three days gathering the spoil because there was so much. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat in front of them, to go back to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. So they came to Jerusalem, with stringed instruments and harps and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.
As a New Covenant believer in Christ… no matter what you are facing today, whether it is as a result of your own mistakes, or as a result of other people’s mistakes, or people coming against you, or because of principalities, powers and rulers of darkness… God is for you and He is working things together for your good right now. Stay in faith, shake off all negative thoughts and start rejoicing! Start laughing and giving God praise! Victory is at hand!
Well, what about problems caused by my own sin?
Our gracious loving Father will even turn the fruit of our sins into diamonds. David murdered Bathsheba’s husband and then married her. They lost their first child, but after David repented, even under the Old Covenant, God still turned the fruit of David’s sinful action into a blessing. Among David and Bathsheba’s children were Solomon, the ancestor of Jesus in Joseph's lineand Nathan, the ancestor of Jesus through Mary. Of course God hates sin and never condones it, but in His love for us He will turn the fruit of our mistakes, our slip-ups and even our sins into diamonds. That is the kind of God we serve!
