Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
1 Peter 4:19
In the month of March, God allowed me (Matt) to attend a Calvary Chapel pastor’s conference in another part of Uganda. The teachings of the conference followed the book of First Peter, and focused on the theme of the living hope we believers have in our resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. In his first letter, Peter describes how as Christians, we are exiles on the earth, awaiting our homeland. Our sojourning’s are full of difficulties and trials that God uses to purify our faith like fire. But we rejoice because we have living hope that God’s testing’s will result in praise, glory, and honor at Christ’s revelation.
It was nice to look at the theory of God’s testing, but the practical exam was harder than the written one… While I was away I learned that my family was undergoing serious illness. God tested us for three weeks with a variety of sicknesses. Unfortunately, among other things, Noelle and Emma both battled sepsis, a bacterial infection of the blood. They have both since healed, but Noelle’s body is still recovering. Please pray for us to have wisdom and determination as we pursue health. We are blessed to gain endurance as God takes our eyes off of this world and onto His eternal kingdom.
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:6-7