There is a storm coming!

Picture this. 

You wake up in the morning and drink your coffee and turn on the news. The weatherman on the news says it is going to be cold and rainy. You check the weather app on your phone and find the same information. Not only that, but you live in Seattle, where rain is very common. 

Would you ever walk outside after all of this, and be surprised to find cold and rainy weather conditions? It seems silly to think about. We have all the warnings and all the signs informing us of stormy conditions, so of course we anticipate/expect/and prepare for the storm. 

But how many of us do not do this with the Christian faith? 

It says in 1 Peter verses 12 and 13 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trail when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” 

“As though something strange were happening to you.”

Peter is literally saying here: why are you surprised that you are having trials and difficulties and suffering? You live in the world, a broken world, where trials and struggles exist because of the evil that fills this world. 

You live in Seattle…don’t be surprised by rain! 

This is a reminder that so many people need to hear and keep at the forefront of their mind, because so often we face difficulty in this life and let it affect our emotions, which can then lead to despair. 

But we are told to REJOICE in our suffering. In so many places in the bible it discusses rejoicing over our suffering, because the testing of our faith produces endurance. Because we can count it worthy of our suffering that we have suffered just as our Lord Jesus Christ has suffered. 

Think of it like this. 

As a Christian, what should be one of our main thoughts and aspirations, is to be like Christ. Right? We want to walk the way he walked and love the way he loved. 

Well, our Christ suffered! Almost the entire time He walked this earth He was under the difficulties and temptations and evil of the world. We can rejoice, because we suffer as He did. Our relating to Christ is not just in the splendors of the faith but should also be deeply rooted in the fact that we are not of this world, the way our Christ was not of the world, and because of that we will be hated by the world. We will face difficulty. We will face struggles and trials. 

Don’t be surprised by this! It would be absurd to think that as we live in a broken world that is under the rule and reign of sin that we would not be burdened. 

What can we do about this? 

The same way you grab your rain jacket after seeing rain on the weather forecast…we must prepare for the storm coming. 

Grab your rain jacket. Be prepared! 

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:8-10.

Don’t be surprised when on this earth we face difficulty, “as though something strange is happening to you.” We have checked the weather forecast. We are told rain is coming. Be watchful. Be mindful. Rejoice when we share the suffering of our Lord. 

And when we do, we have the promise that our Savior HIMSELF is going to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.