Continuing Pastor Obie's message, he explains that the Greek word for “entrust” in 1 Peter 4:19 is a banking term, which means to deposit something for safekeeping, with the hope that upon withdraw it is secure. If you are a child of God and you are facing suffering, trust that you are safe and secure in the hands of your loving heavenly Father. Deposit your trust in God’s bank. Trust that God will be faithful to complete what He has started in you. The most dangerous thing that you can do in times of suffering is to lose hope. Meaningless suffering drives us to despair, but if you are a Christ-follower, there is no pain that is worthless. As a child of God, there is no pain that is worthless or wasted. There is purposed to your pain because he promises in Romans 8:28, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” Put you hope in the promise of your loving Father God. In any circumstance, there is always something to be hopeful for; we just need to find and focus on it.
1 Peter 4:15 says, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.” This kind of suffering is brought on by our own sinfulness. Sometimes, we suffer because of our own sin and stupidity. We sometimes find ourselves in horrible situations because of our own horrible decisions. The Apostle Paul is saying, do not live like them; live with wisdom. If we find ourselves in hurting situations that are brought on by our own horrible decision, then as Christians, Romans 8:28 still applies to us. Maybe not the way that we would like it to, but God will turn it around and make whatever situation work for the “good”. He will take your mess and make it a message. He will use our pain to perfect us. There is a difference in the way that a Christian suffers as opposed to a non-Believer. For a Believer of God, He will use that hurt to hone you. He will use that suffering in your life to shape your character. We can put our hope and trust in that.
The same fire that burns up straw is the same fire that purifies gold. The fires that you go through in life, whatever suffering that may be, it will affect you differently based upon the content inside of you … or rather, who is inside of you. What one person goes through may destroy them, but to the Christian with Christ inside then, suffering will strengthen you and sharpen your character. Open your eyes to see God’s power and look within you like never before. In his book, “the Problem of Pain”, Christian author C.S. Lewis writes: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, but shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” And just maybe, this is what He is doing right now in 2020. If the hurt that yo9u are going through right now brings you to a greater awareness of His power and love, then it is worth it to put your hope in your faithful Creator. Hope looks forward to the future and past the pain to God’s promises.
There is a purpose in the pain. Pain never passes without accomplishing its purpose in you. You may not see it at the moment. You just have to be obedient and put your hope and trust in God through those circumstances and know that He will be faithful. Jesus’ passion pain was excruciatingly great, what purpose was accomplished was ever greater … the salvation of you and I. So, trust that God will not waste your sorrow. He will not waste your failures. You will face failures in this life; it’s just the way life is in a fallen world. But, failures are a step to success, if you do not give up. Nobody is going to hit harder than life. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit; it matters how hard a hit you can take. Don’t give up and never fail to learn from failure. Every hurt is an opportunity to learn and grow. Allow God to teach you and guide you through the pain and use it to perfect your character and be more like Christ.
It is important to note that the hurt does not need to be gone in order to focus on hope and find your way back to the happiness of being blessed. The circumstance do not need to change. For the early church, they did not change; they were still mercilessly persecuted, but in the midst of that suffering, they chose to focus on hope. Hope that the glory of God, their faithful Creator, would be upon them, no matter what the outcome was of their circumstance. They focused on hope through the hurt and found happiness. You see, with Jesus there is only winning; even to the point of death. With Christ, you still win.
Pastor Obie ended with the Apostle’s thought in 1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Do good. The circumstances may not change, the hurt may still be there for a while, but in the midst of suffering, keep doing good. You set your primary focus on hope and moving forward, while continuing to do good. Do what God called you to do, which is very simple: the great Commandment of Luke 10:27, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” There is a direct correlation between your good physical and mental health, and helping others, helping you live longer, reduces your blood pressure, reduces chronic pain, increase satisfaction, and gives a greater sense of purpose in life. It does you good to do good. Let the hope be the thing that drives you. Don’t let the hurt be the motivator to action. Hurt can motivate more hurt. Let hope be your motivator to action and turn hurt to happy.
In Christ, Brian
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