In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (1 Peter 3:6). In this you greatly rejoice. In this. In what? Surely we don't rejoice because of the grief and suffering? Is my grief... my pain... my trials the in this? No, when Peter says in this, he is referring back to what he had just described in verses 3 and 4 as our cause for praising God:
a living hope (through the resurrection of Christ) and an inheritance (that can never perish, spoil or fade) We rejoice in the hope that we have because of Christ, and we rejoice in the inheritance - eternal inheritance - kept for us. Because of these two promises, we can find joy even in the midst of grief and suffering and all kind of difficult circumstances. This is very different from the old adage: Just focus on the positive. That works fine when you get a stain on your shirt or a bad grade on a test. But when life is really hard, the "positives" don't make up for the "negatives." Focusing on the positive doesn't always work. However, focusing on Jesus does. When life is really hard... when it doesn't seem fair... when everything is falling apart around you... when you keep getting more and more bad news... when nothing makes sense... when your feet keep getting knocked out from underneath you... when the "positive" is all but impossible to see... Remember the hope you have in Christ. Remember the inheritance kept for you in Heaven. Remember who you love and believe in. Focus on Jesus. Then your faith will be more genuine and real to you than ever before. And your faith may even allow you to whisper a word of praise in the midst of the pain. If you can look at Jesus, you can be filled with an inexpressible ability to rejoice. Why? Because right there in the midst of all the ugly... right there between the sobbing and the pain and the cries for understanding... right there when you choose to see Jesus anyhow, you are receiving the goal of your faith and the salvation of your soul.
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