We can agree that being a Christian isn’t easy. No one likes to go through hardship. If it were up to us, we’d never experience any hardship—let alone serious suffering. We all wonder when suffering and difficulties come our way: Is this really the best tool God has to make me more like Christ? Theoretically, we may agree. But experience is a different thing. God, in his wisdom, chose that way. Think about the cross. As a young believer, I often wondered if it was the only way for God to make things right. Was Christ’s suffering really the only way to bring us back to God?
Because of the cross, we can discover joy in hardship.
My contention in this article is that because of the cross, we can discover joy in hardship, even suffering. For many, if not most, Christians, this is an area in which we need to grow. There is joy in knowing that we’re saved, despite whatever we’re facing. This was Peter’s encouragement to 1st-century believers experiencing hardship. Like those believers, we too can experience joy even as we face suffering. To do so, we must remember at least three things.
1. You Are Born Again
Being born again is a miracle. It isn’t something that we do. We don’t make ourselves be born again. God is the one who causes us to be born again. Peter encourages those who’re scattered in a kind of exile and suffering through it with this truth (1 Peter 1:1), “he has caused us to be born again” (1 Peter 1:3). Why? According to his great mercy.
Hardship blinds us from seeing the good that is already there.
Hardship blinds us from seeing the good that is already there. Suffering can be terrible; hardships unrelenting. And we can start to wonder whether God really loves us. So, believer, remember: God caused you to be born again; he gave you a new heart that knows him and can desire the things of God. God did this for us. So, as Peter starts this section, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3). Meditate on being born again. We celebrate our birthdays, and we thank God for keeping us this far. Well, thank God for causing you to be born again, to a living hope.
2. We Have a Living Hope
Everyone hopes in something, whether that’s God or in a career, money or relationships. We all hope in that thing to give us something: joy, satisfaction and happiness. When hardship comes, we hope to overcome it. Then, we think, we’ll be happy. But more hardships arrive; or the suffering doesn’t let up. Peter encourages Christians facing trials and hardship by pointing them to their living hope (1 Peter 1:3). This isn’t a dead hope. Nor is it wishful.
Our Lord isn’t dead. He’s alive.
It is the hope that will be revealed when Jesus Christ comes (1 Peter 1:5). As Harrell William writes, “We are not sustained by the husks of this cursed world, or by the vanities of our wishful thinking.” Our hope is sure because it is grounded in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again. Furthermore, he is alive and coming back. Like him, we suffer; and like him, we’ll be resurrected. And we can be certain of this because our Lord isn’t dead. He’s alive. So we continue hoping, even when facing hardship and suffering.
Though our hope is future-oriented, it should impact how we live now. We have an expectation. And it isn’t a false one. For Jesus Christ, our living hope will appear.
3. We Have an Imperishable Inheritance
In many cultures, the firstborn son is entitled to an inheritance. Parents prepare something for this son in the hope that when they die, there’ll be something for him. But there’s a problem. Earthly inheritances perish. They don’t last. You might inherit cows, but a drought comes, and they die. The inheritance is gone. Lost forever. You could inherit a house, but a natural disaster strikes. The house is no more. We can rejoice in these things when we receive them. However, we should remember they’re not eternal or imperishable. But not the inheritance that Christians will inherit.
God is keeping this inheritance for his children, to be revealed when Christ returns.
In Peter’s words, it’s “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). Nothing will happen to it. For it is “kept in heaven” by God. It won’t fade or disappoint. Nothing can threaten or take it away. No thief can steal it (Matthew 6:19). Nor will it ever expire. God is keeping this inheritance for his children, to be revealed when Christ returns (1 Peter 1:5). When you face hardship, remember this. God has prepared and is keeping an inheritance that cannot be lost. Although we may not always understand how, Peter says that our present experience will “result in praise and glory and honour” for God (1 Peter 1:6-7).
Rejoice in Your Salvation, Even Hardship
Ponder on it. Meditate on it. Think about it as often as you can. We are born again, by God’s mercy. This has resulted in us having a living hope, so we must not put our hope in something else. The Lord Jesus Christ is our hope. And as we have this living hope, we will inherit an inheritance that is guarded by God. Because of salvation, we can look forward to Jesus’ appearance and that can encourage us through hardship.
