In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:6,7
One of the great questions of all time is how long is a little while? Is it a few seconds. A few minutes. A half-hour. A couple of hours. The whole morning. There are many problems when it comes to the idea of a little while.
One thing that really influences it is the age of the person. Remember the last time you asked a small child to be patient for a little while? They seemed to be satisfied for a minute or two before coming back and bugging you again.
But as an adult, you’re much more patient about waiting a little while. Yea, right. Just watch what happens to a bunch of adults who have been told that they’ll have to wait for a little while. If you’re there with young children, you might want to cover their ears to avoid them experiencing the cursing and swearing.
In our town, you can see this all the time. It happens like clockwork. It’s as dependable and predictable as sunrise. You can bet your bottom dollar that it will happen. If you want to see how a bunch of well meaning, educated, sophisticated, modern people just lose it, go to the deli section of our local grocery store around 5:00 PM. Four things happen that are all started by the need to wait a little while.
First. Our local grocery store makes the best fried chicken. Period.
Second. People come to pick up fried chicken for dinner.
Third. The store runs out of fried chicken.
Fourth. People are asked to wait a little while.
Boom! Let the complaining begin. Some people mumble to themselves as they have to wait a little while to get their fried chicken. Others keep on asking, and asking, and asking when the next batch will be ready. A few storm out in a thunderstorm of cursing. Some people stare others down as they firmly put themselves right in front, throwing elbows when needed, so they’re first when the chicken is ready.
There’s one other thing that really confuses us when it comes to figuring out what a little while is. If we’re busy doing something we really like, a little while can really change into something different. Something not all that little. It’s a while, but there’s nothing little about it.
One Saturday morning, we were going to take some visitors to see the beautiful local gardens. After getting breakfast set up for everyone I went into my office and started writing. When breakfast was done, everyone got ready for our trip. As they were walking out the door I asked if they would mind waiting a little while. Maybe it was because they loved us, or maybe because I had just fed them, they felt like they couldn’t say no. After thanking them, I put my head down and went back to writing.
After what seemed like only a little while, Mary Ann knocked on the door of my office. She gently asked when I was going to be ready. When I tried to ask for a little while again, she told me that it had been more than two hours since I said those words the last time.
When it comes to suffering grief in all kinds of trials, Peter’s telling us the same thing. For some of us, it seems like our whole life is nothing but one long hallway filled with disappointment and pain. Every door we open to escape only brings more discouragement, loneliness, and agony.
And then there are a few people that have learned the secret of living through this little while thing. Yes, their lives have all the same griefs and trials as the rest of us. They live through the same heartache and pain as we do, but they keep on moving forward. They have found a way to walk through this little while thing.
Their secret for living through their little while of griefs and trials is not to look down where they are but to look forward to where they’re headed. And as they keep looking forward, they stay busy loving God and serving people.
How do I know this? Because Peter talks about the genuineness of their faith. Real faith isn’t just posting Bible verses on the internet or arguing about something that won’t matter in a couple of seconds.
Real faith drives us to our knees to admit our sins and deep need of forgiveness through Jesus[1]. Genuine faith is always looking for ways to do what God wants us to do because he’s first loved us[2]. True faith makes us want to put our wants to the side and put the needs of others first[3].
Are we looking for ways to immediately jump out of our griefs and trials or are we willing to look for something deeper than the immediate pain? Sometimes, healing only comes through surgery and recovery. God’s little while is there for his glory, our good, and as a help to others. When we get busy serving God and others through Jesus, it’s amazing how short our little while will feel.
Noodling Questions
Describe a time when something just seemed to be going on forever.
List three ways that we can start serving God and the people around us.
What could God be wanting to tell us through our current “little while?”
[1] Matthew 6:12
[2] 1 John 4:19
[3] Philippians 2:3
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