Till We Are Home

In our young adult ministry, we have been studying 1 Peter over the last few months. In our last gathering, we covered 1 Peter 4:12-19 which discusses the topic of suffering. If you are not familiar with 1 Peter, Peter wrote this letter to a group of Christians dispersed outside of their homes in what’s now known as modern day Turkey. These dispersed Christians were far from home and persecuted because of their faith. In their dispersion, they experienced suffering and trials.

The first two verses of this passage really struck me. Peter says in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

I approach these verses, when I led our group through them and even now as I write, with great trepidation. I feel as if I am on holy ground and in a realm that I don’t quite understand fully. So, please bear with me, but what Peter told his audience 2,000 years ago – especially about joy in suffering – can bring us deeper understanding of our Christ and greater joy in this time during our sojourn on earth.

Three points I would like to make from these two verses. One, in verse 13, Peter speaks of their trials as 1. expected, 2. fiery, and 3. testing grounds for their faith. Peter tells his audience not to be surprised for the trials they face are expected. Why are the trials not a surprise? Well, quite simply, Jesus told his followers that they would experience persecution just like he did (Jn 15:20). As a result, then, we know that persecution, trials, and suffering may come our way since our Lord experienced the same, and we as servants are not greater than our master.

Further, Peter points to the extreme nature of the trials they face calling them ‘fiery’. When you hear the word ‘fiery’, what comes to mind? What I hear in this description of their trials is excruciating pain and great difficulty. Their trials would not be easy, breezy…no, not by a long shot. So, if Peter’s audience faced fiery trials, we, too, can expect to face trials of great pain and difficulty.

Finally, Peter characterizes their trials as ones that were given to test their faith. Jump over to verse 19. What does Peter say about these trials and sufferings? He says they are ‘according to God’s will”. The Lord is absolutely sovereign over our lives, even the sorrowful trials we endure. He means these for our good (Rom 8:28) and they are a means of testing the genuineness of our faith. This hearkens back to what he wrote in 1 Peter 1:7, “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Peter indicates that these sorrows they endure, the trials they face, bring testing to confirm who it is they believe and trust. 

Some may fall away and thus prove their faith was never real.

Some, though, will carry through (by God’s grace and help!!!) and prove their faith to be real. And not only so, but the trial will strengthen and improve their faith like gold refined in the fire (the fiery trial!!). 

Second (and the holy ground I gingerly approach), Peter tells the dispersed believers to rejoice in their trials, to rejoice in their suffering. I admitted to the young adults in our home that night that I don’t truly understand how this practically walks itself out. In my experience, the greatest sorrow I know was the death of my youngest child. I’ve endured other trials in my life, and I can say that I found it a bit easier (so to speak) to rejoice in the Lord in those days. But losing my little girl was devastatingly painful and far from joyful. 

So, then, what does rejoicing in our suffering look like?

The apostle Paul helps our approach to answering this question in another letter. In 2 Corinthians, Paul answers a concern that the church in Corinth raised about his and the others’ apostleship. He lays out past experiences, qualities, and where their hope lies. In 2 Corinthians 6:10, Paul says one of the qualities they possess is “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing”. 

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

That helps dispel the tension one can feel when you hear Peter tell his audience and us that we should rejoice in our suffering. Suffering, trials, tribulations are all very hard. They produce sorrow, sometimes great sorrow. Feeling sorrow in the midst of our trials is natural and (of course) ok. It makes sense to feel sorrow in the midst of trials. 

However, I do not naturally feel any joy when enduring trials or tribulations, especially if they are of the ‘fiery’ variety. 

But, isn’t that the point?

It isn’t natural to rejoice in suffering. To rejoice in suffering needs to come from outside of us. Further, we don’t rejoice in the terrible, fiery trial we endure. We don’t take joy in the loss of what we lost. No, we rejoice in something…someone greater. We rejoice in Christ.

Again, listen to what Paul tells another church in Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Even when we lose so much, we see that Christ is sweeter than the greatness of our loss.^[1] (I’m thankful for John Piper’s article making this clear.)

Now we can understand a little better what Peter told his audience when he said to rejoice in their sufferings. They endured sorrow – yes – and they could rejoice in their Savior. He also makes it clear that their suffering meant they shared also in Christ’s sufferings.

Talk about holy ground!

In their suffering, they shared in the sufferings of Christ, thus proving even more to whom they belong to. As strangers and aliens, sojourners and exiles (1 Pet 2:11) who do not belong to this world, who faced persecutions and trials and sufferings, their own suffering demonstrated who they belonged to and who would redeem it all. 

We, too, can rejoice in our sufferings. I know this is hard to fathom when you face whatever ‘fiery’ trial you are enduring. But God’s Word is true, He is faithful, and He will help you to rejoice in Christ even in the midst of dreadful suffering.

Finally, at the end of verse thirteen, Peter links our ability to rejoice in suffering with our future experience of joy and gladness when Christ reveals His glory. This Blew My Mind! My ability to enjoy and be glad in Christ’s second coming, in the age to come, will be directly linked to me rejoicing while suffering. 

I admit, this is strange. However, if I submit to the Lord, ask Him to help me rejoice in suffering, and actually do so by His grace and help, then I am rewarded with greater joy and gladness in Christ’s revealed glory. Though strange, this leaves me awestruck. 

Who doesn’t want greater joy and gladness in the age to come? 

My rejoicing in suffering today – even when that suffering is heart wrenching, painstaking, excruciatingly sorrowful – means an increased ability to revel in my Savior tomorrow. Knowing this to be true, oh Lord, help me today in my suffering. Help me to rejoice even when the waves of sorrow seem insurmountable and excruciating. Help me not to rob myself of greater joy in Christ when He comes again.

Brothers and sisters…your suffering is not meaningless. God has great purpose for us in our fiery trials. Put your faith in Him that His plan is better than we could possibly understand today. Trust that these expected fiery trials are given to us to test our faith, to refine it like gold. Then, turn and ask for God’s supernatural help to rejoice in the midst of suffering so that we may experience greater joy and gladness when Christ’s glory is revealed. 

May we find hope in these two verses for our suffering today…

Till we are home…

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^[1] Piper, John, “What Is the Secret of Joy in Suffering?” desiringgod.org, Desiring God, August 6, 2015, accessed March 22, 2025, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-secret-of-joy-in-suffering.