Do You Rejoice in Suffering?

 

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:6-8

 Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought you needed to do something to earn God’s love, if you ever thought that you had to “get right” with God before you could accept Jesus as your Savior. Ok, now don’t you feel silly raising your hand while you’re sitting there reading on your phone or computer? 😂😂Yeah, me too. There was definitely a time in my life where I thought I had to clean up my act, quit drinking, quit cussing, quit smoking before I could come to God and humbly ask for His forgiveness and presence in my life. I mean, how could I ask a perfect, righteous God to associate with someone like me? I knew the things I had done and said and thought. I knew how very undeserving I really was. But you know what? He knew that too, and He died for me anyways!

 I love how in today’s passage it says, “at just the right time.” In the devotional, the author writes about how that time came thousands of years before I was even born. Before I was able to do anything to earn it, Jesus died for me. Before I even recognized that I needed to set things right in my life, Jesus hung on the cross in my place. Before I did anything – good or bad – Jesus pre-paid for my salvation. But He knew. He knew every lie I would tell, every hurtful word I would speak, every selfish tendency of my heart, every evil thought that would linger in my mind. He knew it all, and He chose to cover me anyways. Wow. That’s all, just Wow.

Whenever I read this passage in Romans (5:1-11), verses 3-4 always give me pause. Paul starts off this chapter talking about how we should rejoice in the hope of God’s glory, which I completely align with. Then he goes on to talk about how we should rejoice in our suffering. Rejoice in suffering? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to reread this because I thought I had to have this wrong. Strongs defines the word used here as glory, boast or rejoice. Like, we’re supposed to throw a party here. This is a serious call to exuberant happiness. But in suffering? Yep. I looked that word up too. Strong’s G2347 is translated as tribulation, affliction, trouble, anguish and persecution. That’s serious suffering. We’re not talking a hang nail here, we’re looking at a Country Western song where the guy’s girl left him and his dog died and his car broke down. That’s the tongue-in-cheek version, but more personally, God is calling me, through Paul, to rejoice in my chronic pain, the tumor in my brain, the loss of dear loved ones, broken relationships, loneliness, brain fog, my husband’s unemployment, everything. All the tough stuff, God wants me to glory and exult in it. Why would I do this? Because, as verses 3-4 state, suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope. You cannot learn perseverance unless you have something to persevere through. Constantly having everything you need or want handed to you on a silver platter without any work involved will net you nothing in the long run. It is through perseverance in suffering that we develop character, that we grow as a person. As my dear friend, Jennifer, puts it, “I am becoming quite the character!” And that character leads to hope. And we’re not talking about a vague, false hope here. We’re not discussing how you hope you get a Ferrari for Christmas. This is real, true hope – hope in God that will never disappoint. This is the deep, solid stuff that we can put our absolute, never-say-die hope in. When we say hope here, we’re saying we know without a shadow of a doubt what will come to pass.

Here's the Thing: That kind of hope only comes with depth of character, which can only be achieved through true perseverance, which is only brought on by deep, brutal suffering. Yes, friends, that is why we can rejoice in our tribulations, our trials, our suffering, because it is worth it in the end. It bears fruit that will last and hope that will not disappoint!

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