My brothers and sisters in Christ serving in the military I want you to see that our trials can lead us to deeper fellowship with Christ. Trials put the Christian heart under fire. Live fire. Peter writes, “Beloved, do not be surprised by the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12ff). “Rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings” (v13). Do not be ashamed but glorify God (v16). Does this seem strange even ludicrous? How can I rejoice when my buddy was crippled or killed; by the war, the pandemic, (fill in your pain)? How does my physical, emotional, financial pain glorify God? Trials hurt! And yet, live fire from our enemies is purifying fire in the hands of Christ. Until we are “perfect and complete lacking in nothing” (James 1:4) more trials will come. Trials are designed by God to draw us near to him and make us grow. They are good.
Trials Lead
In Psalm 119 we can observe God using trials for the author’s good. The Holy Spirit’s human co-author is not expressly known. It is widely thought to be written by King David, the “man after [God’s own] heart” (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22). Other scholarly argument attributes this longest of chapters to Daniel who also pursued God Almighty with his whole heart (Daniel 1-12). God and man write into this psalm simple and deep theology through three repeating interconnected themes: trials, prayer, and meditation on the Word of God (lecture by Dr. Robert L. Plummer).
How are they interconnected? God designs trials to clear obstacles that hinder us from running to him in prayer and meditation. “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word” (v67). “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes” (v71). Personally, my circumstances often lead me to want to hide from God or at least avoid him for a while. The psalmist is teaching us that a clear biblical view of God helps us wrestle through those circumstances toward him. The progression of the psalm testifies that learning God’s statutes and keeping God’s word lead the psalmist into deeper meditations. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (v50). “I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (v75). Prayer and meditation gently lead him to trust the LORD even in severe trials (v107, 153). God intends for us to grow and draw near (Phil 1:6).
Trials Have Purpose for You
Fiery trials are designed by God for our good. Consider the grueling training Easy Company 101st Airborne went through leading up to D-Day. Untrained undisciplined men were tempered through fiery training trials in preparation to be dropped behind enemy lines. Could a city slicker or a farm boy have been dropped on that day and survived the onslaught of an enemy hiding in the dark in seemingly endless numbers with overabundant supply? No! Not until fiery trials took the city slickers and the farm boys in Easy Company and made them into men who could assess danger, calculate risk, and then take brave purposeful steps (or nighttime parachute drops) toward danger.
Brothers and sisters wherever you are serving today, you have been dropped behind enemy lines and are taking on live fire in many ways. Spiritual warfare attacks from dark, hidden positions (Ephesians 6:12). Your culture, even your families, can war against you (Luke 21:10-19). Your own flesh wars against your soul (1 Peter 2:11). Even your heart is “deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Asked and answered, “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jeremiah 17:10). Our LORD is good, and he does good (Psalm 119:68). He directs trials to teach us to assess danger, calculate risk, and then take brave purposeful steps (or nighttime parachute drops) as we fight the good fight of the faith. As we stand fiercely protecting our nation, we must also stand firm in our faith “always ready to give an answer” for the glory of the LORD (1 Peter 3:15)!
Taking Action
The television series “The Band of Brothers” portrays a scene where Richard Winters is commanded to take Easy Company into a fierce battle (one almost thought to be hopeless). He is warned, “You’re going to be surrounded.” To which he replies, “We are 101st Airborne, we are supposed to be surrounded.” This was not a fool’s statement. They were not about to rush in where wise men fear to tread. He was making a statement out of prepared confidence. The well-trained battle-hardened company was ready to face every trial. Are you?
My brothers and sisters in Christ rejoice! Embrace the LORD’s purifying fire of trials. Let them train you to chase hard after him in prayer, meditation on his word, and obedience to his commands. God as both Lord and Savior works in all our afflictions. The Lord is near. He suffers with us and will help us. “In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old (Isaiah 63:9; emphasis mine)! He will do the same for you as you draw near to him in and through every trial.