“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1 Peter 1:7

I find myself constantly falling to my knee’s multiple times in one day; staying in prayer for God’s mercy to be extended towards all men in the current circumstances that we are encountering all over this world. Our nation is divided, sickness and death are running rampant from the impact of the Pandemic, and so many people struggle just to have a meal to place on the table. But through it all we have a hope that is built on nothing less than Jesus’ shed blood and His righteousness. God is in control!

This road of life that we travel is not one of ease and comfort. The hymn written by George Allen in the early 1800’s state:

Must Jesus bear the cross alone,

And all the world go free?

No, there’s a cross for everyone,

And there’s a cross for me.

God is sovereign and has a plan for us all. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11. Every trial, every victory is working to make us a vessel of honor for the glory of God. We must hold on to our faith and remember that we are assured of the victory over every affliction that we face. We may not know how, or when our Lord will come through…but He is faithful that promised.

Peter wrote these encouraging words of God’s power to keep us in and through all of life circumstances; “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1 Peter 1: 5-7. We are His precious jewels, and He is spiritually refining us for His glory and our good.

If we honestly believe that God is omnipotent and raised Jesus from the dead so that we could have eternal life; then we know without any shadow of doubt that He holds us safe in His everlasting arms. We can run this Christian race in joy, hope and peace, being assured as Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

So, this day let us praise Him and give thanks for His all-sufficient and all- powerful existence. He is the Great I AM, who sustains all creation. And the best part of it all is that He is love… and nothing shall ever separate us from the love of God!

Let us walk in the joy, hope and peace of God all throughout this day and all ways!