Dear Truro family,
This week at our Wednesday communion service we looked briefly on 1 Peter 1:3-7:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 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.
Two quick reflections on this text, as it relates to our life together at Truro during this season, both stemming from verse 6:
1. “In this you rejoice…” We hear echoes of Ephesians here! Rejoice in the good news of the gospel, of the simple yet profound truths of all that has been secured for us in Christ, and of the great unshakeable hope that is always ours.
2. “…If necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…” In his infinite wisdom and goodness, God sometimes ordains it “necessary” that we experience trials, whether in our personal lives or in our church. These trials are painful. And these trials test our faith. But God sovereignly redeems these trials for our good and for his glory. Therefore, perhaps a good (though difficult) question for us to ponder is: “Why has God deemed these trials necessary?”
Perhaps the late Christian songwriter Rich Mullins said it best in his song “Calling Out Your Name”:
“From the place where morning gathers, you can look sometimes forever ‘till you see / What time may never know… / How the Lord takes by its corners this old world and shakes us forward and shakes us free / To run wild with the hope… / The hope that this thirst will not last long, that it will soon drown in the song not sung in vain.”
May God shake us “forward and… free, to run wild with the hope,” that this church would resound more and more with “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ”.