19th May 2013: The Testing of Faith

For a little while you may have to suffer various trails, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Peter had stood before a fire and had denied his Lord with oaths and curses (Mk 14:66-72). Why had his Lord not warned him to avoid the High Priest's house that night? After all, if he is God, he must have know... But Christ had simply told Peter: 'You will deny me, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail' (Lk 22:31-32). In the upper room Christ had explained that he was telling his disciples about certain things, so that when they happened they would know that 'I AM' (Jn 13:19). Not just afterwards, when they had time to think things through, but in the very moment of distress they would know that he had known all along, he understood, he cared and he was in control (Lk 22:61).

Peter's attitude had been all wrong. His bravado, the 'big man' attitude (Mt 26:33,35; Lk 22:33), had indicated a complete lack of dependence on his Lord. Peter had not been teachable in the upper room. So he had to be allowed to make an utter mess of things. It was the only way he would learn!

Peter never forgot the lesson, and in his letter he writes of the trial of faith. Gold, he explains, had to be refined; and from a bucketful of ore only a small nugget of the metal survives the fire. But the nugget is infinitely more precious than all the dross. So with our faith -- the bravado, the self-esteem and the pride have to be destroyed by the fiery trial. But what emerges, in terms of a greater evaluation of the Lord and a closer dependence on him, is infinitely precious.

Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed by they name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done... Lord, make me
teachable, but when I won't learn, when you have to expose
me to temptation, be with me and pray that my faith fail
not, and deliver me from evil... for thine is the power and
the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Further reading: 1 Pet 1:3-9.

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