Today I read 1 Peter 4 which continues the talk about Jesus preaching the Gospel to those in Spirit Prison. The reason the Gospel was preached unto those in prison is so that they can be held accountable the same way that those who heard the Gospel in the flesh are held accountable. God is a just God and will hold us all accountable to the exact same standard. However, He is also merciful in that He will grade on a sliding scale so to speak about what we did according to how much we knew at the time.
Since we talked about that yesterday, that is all I'll say on the matter. The rest of the chapter has to deal with being tested and suffering for Christ's sake. I have talked in the past about how if we are doing what is right, we can expect lots of trials and temptations and if we are on the wrong path, we won't have that many trials inflicted by God but we may have trials because of the consequences of our actions. For example, if we choose to use illegal drugs, we may have health challenges. But that is not a trial given to us by Heavenly Father, but rather a natural consequence of our own actions. But when we live the teachings of the Gospel, we can expect trials and tribulations to come our way, much like Job of old.
In my family, we have had a rough couple of weeks. We have had personal illness to both of our cars breaking down multiple times, to our TV blowing up due to a storm, just to name a few. It has really been a challenge to remain happy and upbeat at times this past 2-3 weeks. I have always been one of those people that find the balance in life. For example, I firmly believe that when you have a big spiritual experience, you can expect to have a major trial or bad thing happen to you. When you have something bad happen to you, you can expect to have something good happen to you soon after. I do not think that God just dumps trial after trial on people. I believe that for every high there is a low. So I really believe something good will happen to us to even out all these negative trials we have been experiencing recently. I have no idea what it will be, but it has been a pattern that is pretty consistent in my life.
Peter talks about that when we suffer for Christ's sake, we should feel ourselves lucky that we are worthy to suffer with Him. That might sound kind of odd, but if you think about it that Satan pays more attention to those who are doing what is right, we should be grateful for our trials as they can almost be used as a measuring stick of how we are doing, again as long as they are not just natural consequences of our own actions. That is what I think of when I hear about people being happy that they were worthy to suffer for His sake. It means they are doing what is right and are on the right track.
Trials are also meant to help us grow. My brother made an interesting statement once. He met an older couple in their 70-80's on his mission. He said they were the most humble, pleasant to be around people he had ever met in his life. He said he almost shuddered to think about what they had gone through in their life to get them to the point they were at when he met them. I agree with him. Trials are our refiner's fire. We become better men and women when we endure our trials well. Think about Job. When he had everything taken from him, even his health, he still glorified God. And when it was all said and done, he was given back more than he had in the beginning. God does not just try and test us for some kind of perverse pleasure. Not at all. He does everything for our benefit.
The next time you have a severe trial come up, if you can, try and think about what has happened recently. Did you recently have a very nice blessing happen? If not, try and pay attention after the trial is over and see if you have a blessing come up later. Try and notice if you have large spiritual experiences just before or after major trials. I bet you will find that you do. And if you can, thank God for your trials. They are what is causing you to progress and become better men and women. Without them, we would be lost and not progress at all. Thank our Heavenly Father for our trials. Until tomorrow.
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