We have been covering how the fruit of the Spirit are divinely powerful weapons. In this day of increasing discord and conflict it is even more crucial that we build our lives upon the Rock, Jesus, and strengthen ourselves in Him by continually seeking to grow in His nature. This is demonstrated by the fruit of the Spirit in our life.  

         For this reason, we will now cover some of the biblical exhortations that give us clear instructions as to how we strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We will begin with those written to us by Peter, the one to whom the Lord gave the keys of the kingdom, and in these we can find those keys that open His kingdom to us. We begin with I Peter 1:6-9:

         “In this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.

         “This is so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

         “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now you believe in Him, and greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 

         “obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

         Jesus came to give us an abundant life. That does not necessarily mean that it would be all good, just that there would be a lot of it. He also said that in the world we will have tribulation, or troubles. This present age is for the purpose of us having trials that help conform us to His image and prepare us to rule with Him in the age to come. They are for our sake, and when we mature in Him we begin to understand how these trials really are more valuable than gold as Peter wrote. 

         So, the mature in Christ should consider every trial as something we should be as excited about as if we had just found a bag of gold. To the truly spiritual a trial is worth immeasurably more than gold. This life is but “a vapor” and any gold we have here will only last that long at best. The nature of Christ that trials work into us results in far greater things in this life than any amount of gold could ever buy, and they will last forever.

         We cannot make ourselves into what we should be, but we are to be His workmanship. For this reason, it is presumptuous to make our own trials, or anyone else’s. However, there are things we can do to make the most of trials—mostly to walk in faith, trust Him, and thank Him for all that He allows in our life. 

         James acknowledges this when he wrote to: “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials” (see James 1:2). For him to write to “count it all joy” implies that we may not feel that way, at least at first. However, if we truly believe the Scriptures that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), then we will trust His Word more than we do our doubts or fears about the trial, as we see in James’ word about this:

         “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 

         “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 

         “Let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

         “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 

         “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 

         “For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 

         “being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:2-8).

         Here we see that a purpose of trials is to produce endurance in us. This will go much better if we work with God to endure them by trusting Him. The next important thing to do in a trial that we see here is that we should ask God for wisdom in how to deal with it, which He promises to always give us. 

         Then we resist the doubts by resolving that we are going to trust God and believe His Word above any feelings we may have, above any appearances, or words of discouragement the devil may try to tempt us with. Believing God is always right—doubting Him is not, and can at best result in a much longer trial.

© 2021 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.