MUCH MORE PRECIOUS THAN OF GOLD

Faith is both compared and contrasted with gold in this passage that examines the reason for suffering in the life of a believer. If Peter was correct in speaking of a wonderful inheritance in glory that is being kept for the believer, 1 Pet. 1. 4, and if he was sincere in assuring the saints that they were being preserved by the power of God so that they would ultimately claim that inheri­tance, v. 5, why was it that, at the time of his writing, there was so much trouble afflicting the believers? They had been made sor­rowful through trials of every kind, v. 6, and they needed both explanation and encouragement. Peter, ever mindful of his own misunderstanding, years before, of the need for suffering to pre­cede glory in the ministry of the Saviour, sought to assure his brethren and sisters that there was a purpose in it all.

To see the outcome of faith in the life of one of His dear chil­dren is very precious to God. The particular trial itself does not bring pleasure to God, any more than it does to the believer enduring it. But the ability of the believer to overcome the trial demonstrates the reality of faith and its power to sustain, by lay­ing hold on God and His word. It is the outcome of faith exercised that honours God and strengthens the saint. Faith is deepened and through it the believer purchases an unfading reward in glory. If faith is like gold, in that the fire purifies it and proves its reality, it is also unlike gold in that its purchasing power is not for time but for eternity. Gold that is hidden can become cankered and beset by corruption, Jas. 5. 3, but faith hid­den in the heart of the believer and grounded upon the unfailing promises of God will never perish.

Trials take many different forms, and we often think of them as the low points of life. However, if we can accept a trial as com­ing from the hand of God for our blessing and His glory, it can become a high point of Christian experience. It will prove the reality of faith, not as to whether it is there - God knows that - but to show what faith can produce in the believer’s life. Such a trial is not something with which God afflicts us, but something with which He trusts us in the light of eternal glory.