Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.”-1 Peter 4:12

A surprise birthday party is surprising. Receiving an unexpected card in the mail with a twenty dollar bill is surprising. If you peeked out your back window and were to see a bear sitting at your picnic table on the patio sipping coffee, now that would be very surprising! But here’s what shouldn’t be surprising to us as Christians, yet so often it takes us off guard — trials, tribulations, and hardships.

The truth be told, as Christians, we shouldn’t be surprised that trials and troubles come. Jesus made it so very clear when He said, “…Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). This world that God made has been broken by us. We sinned and separated ourselves from God (Romans 3:23). He still reigns! He’s still sovereign. It’s just a reality that until Jesus returns, trials and sorrows and pain and trouble exist. Peter put it plainly like this in 1 Peter 4:12, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.”

Here’s something terrific about trials: God uses them, even allows them, for His glory and for our growth. In fact, we are now to face trials with gladness, as an opportunity to trust God, to persevere, to grow our endurance, and to mature in our faith as we walk with God through them. I’d encourage us all to read James 1:2-4 again. What an important reminder we find in this passage!

In this life, there will be plenty of surprises, good and bad. But let’s remember together that the struggles which come regularly here on earth shouldn’t be surprising. And here’s some super news—Jesus promises to be with us, even to the end of the age, including in and through every trial we will ever face (Matthew 28:20).

Godspeed, friends!

-Scott