Rejoice!

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭9

Take a moment and read through the passage again and make sure you get it! The recurring theme that jumped out to me as I read this is Rejoice! And not just rejoice, but Greatly Rejoice! Add a greatly before and it emphasizes it even more. Are you rejoicing? “I have nothing to rejoice about,” you might say. It’s true, sometimes it feels like we don’t, but let's take a look at this verse a little close. 

It is easy to come into a situation and say, “you don’t know what I am going through.” “If you were in my place you wouldn’t be rejoicing either.” That is selfishness. We get that attitude when we are focusing on ourselves and not looking beyond those things. This verse captures all of that. It talks about being distressed by various trials. That includes everything that we may be going through. And it tells us to rejoice anyway! So why do we rejoice! 

We rejoice because what Christ has done is so much bigger than what we are facing! We are facing a small trial, but Christ has taken all of them! Our trials will test our faith, but if our faith is real then, though tested through fire, it will come out in Praise, Glory and Honor! Not by why we have done, but at the revelation of what Jesus did!!

So what did Jesus do? Jesus saved our souls! He already did the work! He already took our punishment! And when we receive Him by faith we can hold onto the truth that our souls are saved! And this is why we rejoice! Because our life is not about what we are going through, but it is a testament of what Christ has done! 

So then the question comes. Do you know Jesus? Do you understand that you need Him? Is the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart right now, telling you that there is more to this life than yourself? When you accept Christ in your life it does not mean that your problems will go away. What it does mean is that you will have a place in heaven when this life is over! You will be welcomed into God's family as a child! It means you have hope and faith in what Christ has done for you! And you have hope for a better future! 

If you are in a place to accept Him in your life, then I encourage you to take that next step! Open your heart to God and let Him know that you are ready! That you want to surrender your life to Him and accept His gift of salvation! Then reach out to me or someone else that knows Christ and let them know. Jesus says, “If you confess me before people I will confess you before my Father in heaven!” So let someone know! The walk of faith is not meant to be a lonely one. You are now part of the family of God and we are walking this walk together! We want to rejoice with you!