This morning in my reading in I Peter 1, I was struck by Peter’s concept that faith is something more precious than gold, and suffering grief in all kinds of trials refines your faith and proves it genuine. Peter’s urgent point is, don’t allow trouble to destroy your faith. It is of tremendous value to God, and will bring public honor, glory and praise when Jesus comes back.

He says, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action.” This phrase in the Greek has the sense of cinching up your clothes so there isn’t anything hanging loose to trip you up or get caught on something on your way.

Food for thought here. Since the Assembly fell apart, many have quite a lot of things “hanging loose” – questions, doubts, trust issues, and on and on.

I think Peter would say, don’t let all that paralyze you. Once you get over the initial shock, identify the remnant of your faith, however small, amidst the damages. It is tremendously valuable to God. Work on clearing away the entangling doubts and debris, yes, but all the while nurture and cherish that little nugget of faith.

The high-demand conditioning will tell you very forcefully that it is not enough, that you are not measuring up as a Christian, that you are all alone now, cut off from any spiritual lifeline of supply, that you’re not going to make it.

But it is enough. It was a gift from God in the first place, and it is a testimony, not to your great spirituality, but to His great love and grace in Christ.