Reflection on 1 Peter Chapter One

What do we have to live for?
Everything, we know that God is preparing us for a day when we are without blame, when everything imaginable that is good will be ours. In Chapter One of 1 Peter he talks of how wonderful it is to know that this day is coming and that when we may feel down, when it seems that there are too many mountains, too many obstacles, we must keep this end in mind. We must have faith and know that that day will come, that the hardship and battles that we face will merely make us stronger in our walk with the Lord. What we have here on earth is not what is important and it is so incredibly difficult at times to remind ourselves of this, to slow down and focus on the treasure that we have in heaven versus the so called treasures that we tend to build our lives around here on earth. We have our cars, our name brand clothes, our careers, our relationships, our children and families, our goals, our foods and the list goes on and on...
It is so difficult to remember that these things are not what matters in the end, but the things that we do, how we act, what we say, and what is in our hearts are the true test.
Its not easy, there are so many things that go wrong in the everyday, so many struggles, decisions, and emotional times. However, through all of it we need to keep God in the center of our lives and do all things in Him, through, Him, and for Him..and these obstacles and mountains will not feel quite so large and indomitable. We are being put through the refiners fire, we will be tossed, hurt, tugged, pulled, and stretched. We will cry, we will feel that we can fall no further, that we have hit rock bottom...but through it all, we must know that we are in His hand, that we will be borne through it all, that we will come through all of it polished, stronger, beautiful, and shining in our Creator's image.