When You're in Trouble (1 Peter for Suffering)

Years ago, I was at a friend’s surprise birthday party. As we waited in the dark, one fella found a way to turn up the surprise factor. He grabbed a kitchen knife and held it up in front of a candle so that it cast a scary shadow on the wall. (At this point, it’s important to say that I don’t recommend this approach to anyone.) When the moment came, I don’t know if the birthday boy even heard our “Surprise!” because he ran away, leaving his wife at the door, presumably to face the trouble by herself! 

My buddy was just looking for a blessed birthday, and instead he got trouble. What’s more, that trouble tested him, and I’m guessing he wishes he could take the test again.

I realized something that day: When you’re in trouble, Ryan, the truth about you will come out too. The Bible says that if you’re a Christian, you don’t have to go looking for trouble… trouble will find everyone who follows the One the world killed (John 16:33). And in 1 Peter 1:6-7, the apostle Peter adds, Your troubles will test your trust. To say that believers face fiery trials that test the genuineness of our faith means, in times of trouble, real Christians are sorted out from the fake ones. What that means for you (and me) is: When you’re in trouble, the truth about you spiritually will come out.

Peter clarifies that these trust-testing troubles are grievous (1:6), varied (1:6), and undeserved (2:19). They aren’t the troubles brought on by sin (2:19; 4:15). They’re “unjust”—it’s the trouble that comes to a servant who has a harsh master (2:18) or a godly woman who marries a godless man (3:1). It’s the trouble of being made fun of for your faith (3:16) or of losing friends because you won’t sin with them (4:4).

Questions seem to spill out whenever trouble comes: Why? How Long? Those questions aren’t bad. However, 1 Peter teaches that when you’re in trouble, those questions aren’t best. Instead, three other questions will help you pass the trouble test. 

Question 1: When You’re in Trouble, Where Do You Turn?

The most common place to turn is toward ease—an escape from hard—something as simple as ice cream, shopping, a friend, or even a replacement spouse. Another wrong place to turn is toward disobedience—we lash out in anger because we’re stressed; or when someone makes us feel bad, we try to make ourselves feel good even by doing something God says is never good.

But where should you turn when you’re in trouble? Peter tells us to turn toward the example of Jesus: “To [unjust suffering] you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps” (2:21). When trouble comes, intentionally stop your natural flow in order to track the steps of Jesus. What does that look like? Well, that’s what the two other questions are for.

Question 2: When You’re in Trouble, Who Do You Trust?  

Just as earth’s gravity keeps our feet down on the ground, the fallen world has a spiritual gravity that pulls our trust down, away from God, toward ourselves. And when you’re in trouble, that gravitational pull multiplies. Apart from God’s grace, we all will trust ourselves to get ourselves out of trouble—What can I do to hurt them? What can I do to stop them from troubling me?

But notice what Jesus was doing in trouble: Instead of turning to self or sin, Jesus “continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (2:23). Troubles test trust, and Jesus passed not just any test, but the test of the cross. When they lashed and beat Him, when they put the nails in His hands and feet, when they stripped Him and hung Him in the middle of the worst criminals, when they mocked Him, when Jesus endured the excruciating trouble of the cross, He didn’t have to hate or threaten because He trusted God would handle them. Jesus could die unjustly because of Him who judges justly. Jesus trusted God to give Him justice after death.

Peter says who we trust when trouble comes is essential for us as well: “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (4:19). 

Question 3: When You’re in Trouble, What Do You Think About?  

If you let trouble’s gravity have its way, what you’ll think about in trouble is you, or these circumstances, or “them” who wronged you. You know what that leads to? More trouble: anxiety, depression, or worse!

How can you pass the test of trouble? The key, the trick, is in the word “mindful”—as in, “this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (2:19). Jesus passed the ultimate test of trouble because His mind was full of the God who judges justly.

The trouble test is passed or failed in the mind. And if you want God in your mind, you’ve gotta get in the Bible. You’ve gotta get around people who can tell you about God.

Fill your mind with the Son of God, who endured the trouble of God’s wrath so you won’t every have to (2:24), who will shepherd and oversee your soul even if the trouble gets worse (2:25). Fill your mind with God the Creator, whose power can sustain you, and whose faithfulness won’t leave you to face this trouble alone (4:19). Fill your mind with His care for you (5:7).

Conclusion

Alright, alright, I know, what about the question? The one every troubled believer always asks: How long? (e.g., Psalm 4:2; 6:3; 13:1; 35:17). I’ll make you a deal: I’ll answer yours if you’ll answer mine…

It just so happens that Peter answers your question, both in the beginning of his letter and at the end. How long will the trouble last? “A little while” (1:6; 5:10). Now “a little while” may last a lifetime—it did for Jesus. But everyone who passes the test of trouble will follow Jesus, after life, into “eternal glory” (5:10). And there, a lifetime of trouble will feel really “little”!

Now my question for you: Who will you trust when you’re in trouble?