so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

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. (NIV)

I was recently asked, “Where are you avoiding friction in your life?”
In other words, where am I resisting the difficult but necessary next right thing to do? It could be a conversation we put off, a habit we need to start, or the secret that needs to come out. 

When we hold onto surface-level peace without facing our whole self in the mirror, that’s avoiding friction. The lie you may believe is this: “I have to hold onto my comfort to live a full life.”

But then life happens. We reach a crossroads where our ignored friction begins to affect those close to us. Our “peace” is tested, and the friction we’ve avoided surfaces. Whether we like it or not, now, we have to confront our shadow. Now we are forced to grow. We lose the choice. Reality chooses for us, but it’s actually a gift if we let it. 

This is humbling. We recognize our need for Jesus. We turn to Him, and we realign our hearts with His. Or? We don’t. Life reveals our deficiencies, and instead of turning to Jesus, we double down in pride. We hold onto the life we are trying to keep. Either way, here’s the secret: Even having the choice at all is grace. To choose Good or hold onto self—it’s all grace.

For the recipients of Peter’s letter, the friction they faced was physical suffering. They could choose to continue testifying that Jesus is King or to crumble under the hostility. Maybe that’s you; maybe it’s not. But if I were to guess, there is friction in your life somewhere. I know there is for me. 

When Jesus is revealed in His fullness, the summation of our lives will be revealed too. Those areas of friction where we trusted in Jesus—in Peter’s words, “the genuineness of faith”—will remain. Everything else (the fragile fake stuff), though—what we tried holding onto, those areas of gritting our teeth and controlling our life as we see fit—will be burned away.

Peter's verse reminds us there’s no shame in giving up false peace to take hold of the only One you can keep. It’s grace that we get to face the refining fire today, before the consuming fire tomorrow.  Whatever we let God burn away today becomes the faith that will still be standing on the last Day.

Where are you avoiding friction in your life?

Written By Ben Hesch