Reserved For You

Read: 1 Peter 1:3-9

You greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. --- 1 Peter 1:6

The Bible In One Year:
Job 20-21
Acts 10:24-48

Have you ever taken one of those vacations? You planned to arrive at a distant location where you knew you'd have a great time, but on the way you had so many traveling difficulties that you wondered if the journey was worth it.

Car problems. Traffic delays. Getting lost. Sick kids. Irritable fellow travelers. You knew the destination would be great, but the trip was anything but smooth. Yet you kept pressing on because you knew it would be worth the trouble.

That's a picture of the Christian life. Those who have trusted Jesus as Savior are on a journey filled with difficulties, setbacks, tragedies, and obstacles. Trouble always seems to be present or just around the corner. But we know that an indescribably great destination is in our future [1 Peter 1:4]. And sometimes the assurance of what's reserved for us in heaven is all that keeps us going.

Peter understood. He said that as we make our way through life, we will suffer grief as a result of our troubles. Yet we can actually rejoice through our difficulties, because God has reserved something special for us at the end of the journey.

Troubled today? Look ahead. Heaven will be worth the trip. --- Dave Branon

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ. --- Rusthoi

THE GAINS OF HEAVEN WILL MORE THAN COMPENSATE US FOR THE LOSSES OF EARTH.