Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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 - 1 Peter 1:3-7
Peter says here that God’s people have been grieved by various trials, and then he tells us why. It is so that the genuineness of their faith in God may be tested and strengthened, and that it will one day result in praise and honor to God. As God’s people we sometimes endure a season of testing. This is certainly the message of Lent and has come true for our people in a real way during this time of separation and sometimes fear.
“Lead us not into temptation”, we pray. Certainly we pray God will keep us in the midst of temptation’s challenges, but we also pray here that he strengthen us as we face trials to our faith. As the Catechism puts it, “God tempts no one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win the victory.”
In testing and temptation the Lord sometimes shakes us from our complacency, reminding us of who we are and who he is to us all. As his own we pray as needy people. He calls us to seek him, to turn from our sin and humble ourselves before him. He will walk with us, lead us on in our journey of faith, and as we continue in this faith keep us from sin, doubt and even despair!
Yes, let us seek God our Savior. Let us pray he spare us the pain and suffering that could come our way. Let us also pray in this time that the Lord call the attention of the people of his world to himself, these he created who are so in need of God as Savior in Jesus Christ.
The Lord will never fail us as his people…We need fear no evil. We can trust him to provide for us all even during trial and temptation. I have been saying that social distancing does not mean “Savior distancing.” It is just the opposite. He is with us always to the end of the age!
Our Lord calls us to seek him during times like these. He is ever forming our faith that we might endure and have the hope of his blessing to come!
The Lord be with you!
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