So you thought life was going to be a piece of cake, I could use some of that cake.
1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.14 So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people's affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! 17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God's household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's Good News? 18 And also, "If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?"
19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.
Did the "fiery" trials take you by surprise, probably not. You probably went through them before, and just like the last time you probably were not happy about it. Too bad life isn't a cake walk, we all like cake but trials is a different story.
What an unusual response to hardship, to be glad is totally opposite from what our human nature tells us to do. It is just natural to seek the easy and the comfortable but God never told us to seek after those two things.
We do need to be careful that we don't make our own trouble, God tells us that if the trials came upon us because of our sin then it is your suffering to bear, he isn't going to reach down and do away with the consequences of the mess we made.
But it is a privilege if you suffer for being a Christ follower. Don't worry about what the score is down here because after the Lord returns you will saved, you can trust your life to the one who created you and loves you. It is difficult to view suffering as a blessing but if I continue to do what is right my blessing will come it could be now or in the life to come.
I must remember that despite the trouble I endure down here, I can be sure that he will never fail me.
