When Things Heat Up

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We have been experiencing some of the hottest days of the year here in the Deep South this week. It is easy to be comfortable if you are sitting inside with the air going full blast, but step outside and the blast of heat that assaults you is withering. After a few minutes breathing becomes labored (at least for me--a confirmed indoor sort of girl). Recovering from physical activity outside takes some time as well. The body just doesn't bounce back easily from such stress.

Similarly, our lives can sometimes be scorched by blasts of heat that rush in and leave us tired and bewildered, if not in pain. The Tuesday night Bible study group has been studying 1st Peter (Ch. 1) this month. In this epistle Peter writes to believers in what is now modern day Turkey to encourage them as they encounter persecution, hardships, and trials related to their faith in Christ. He reminds them that they are strangers or aliens in the world and encourages them to hope. When we are faced with physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental difficulties in this world, we have a choice to make. Will we trust the One who made us and rest in His grace and mercy, or will we trust in what we feel or see or hear around us? It is easy to focus on the trouble and the pain, but all that does is leave us hopeless and wilted from the heat the world has applied to us. Peter reminds believers that regardless of what this life brings, we have the hope of an eternity spent with Christ. That brings hope! Our focus is everything and affects so much in this life. Where we look determines our direction; (if you don't believe me, notice that in a car you steer where you look!)

Peter's message is particularly timely today as so many around the world are suffering and even dying for the name of Jesus. I hope and pray that the ones being persecuted for their faith have the encouragement of the Word and others who will encourage them to stand strong in the strength that God provides. Right now, I have freedom in America to worship as I please, but something tells me that that won't always be the case even here. Will I stay the course? Will I trust even in the midst of persecution and pain and privation? I have to say that my prayer for myself and my family and those in the Church everywhere is that God will allow us to trust him now in the small struggles (small for most of us, large for others) that we encounter so that when the larger ones come, we will have experience in trusting  him completely.

Let me leave you with the cautionary verse found in 1st Peter 1:13, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Our faith fixes our hope in Him who protects us with His power for a salvation yet to be revealed. Regardless of what comes our way in this life, there is victory in Him.

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