Opening Prayer: O Lord, our God, in all things help us to
trust in you. Help us to have faith that
we can always trust your heart, even when we can’t see your hand. Amen.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Journal: What kinds of things are testing the quality of
your faith these days? How are you
holding up?
Reflection:
The quality of our faith—or genuineness, as Peter
calls it—only comes to the surface when it is refined by fire. That is when we can tell what we are really
made of. That is when our faith is proven
either real or artificial. Anyone can
claim to have faith when everything is going well, right? But it is only when the heat is turned up and
the flames of trial are leaping to new heights—when we are truly tested—that
what is really within us begins to show itself.
What comes to the surface in these moments will tell us a lot about who
we really are. And when the trials come,
will we be full of faith or riddled with doubt?
Will we be able to trust or controlled by fear? Will we have an outlook of hopefulness or an
attitude of despair? Simply put, trials
are meant to test us. Which is probably
why the word used here (for trial in the Greek) is peirasmos, which
means an experiment. Trials are an
experiment, meant to show us—as well as the world—the true substance of what
lies within.
Prayers
Closing Prayer: Almighty God, Lord of the storm and of the
calm, of day and night, of life and death; grant to me so to have my heart
stayed upon your faithfulness, your unchangingness and love, that whatsoever
betides me, I may look upon you with untroubled eye. I ask it for thy mercy’s sake. Amen. (Little Book of Prayers by
George Dawson)
No comments:
Post a Comment