“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
God doesn’t do fake happy. You know, the smile you put on when someone says, “How are you?” and you say “good” as you keep walking? God has a depth of gladness for you that is supernatural. You know it’s not from this world because it is the result of going through trials. Wait, what? Deep gladness? From trials? As I said, it is supernatural.
Satan is out to prove that your faith is fake. We see this in the Bible with Job — Satan essentially made a bet with God that Job would turn on Him the second his life wasn’t working out for him. Fortunately, Job’s faith stood the test and God was sure to reward his incredibly enduring faith. What exactly is it that we are going for in this faith-walk of ours? A share in the glory of Christ.
Here’s your freedom for today: let your faith count for something. Anyone can praise God when life is going well. Anyone can love the people who are nice to them. Anyone can go to church or read their Bible or pray when life is going along smoothly. It’s when we are tested that our faith actually means something (or doesn’t). If you are going through a hard time right now, fight for your faith. Cling to your faith. Don’t let Satan think for one second he can pry it out of your hands or out of your life. The hope of Jesus is the only hope there is. Don’t lose it in the midst of a battle, guard it with everything you’ve got.