Are you suffering from afflictions? We all do. This year I have suffered with allergies, a twisted ankle that took months to heal, an apparently arthritic elbow that has bothered me for over a year and only seems to get worse. Things on the job have been unusually difficult due to a recent merger, and there is another merger coming. I have spent a great deal of money on home repairs due to aging appliances and recent storm damage. I buried two dogs in one weekend. My life is filled with challenges. So is yours. What afflictions are you facing?
Take a minute to pause and count some of the hardships you face at present.
Now here’s a question: Are you thankful for your problems?
Thankful? Why would anyone be thankful for problems?
Consider this: are you excited about the glory of God? Do you set your hope on God’s glory? Do you cheer for God’s glory? Do you long to see Him lifted up? Affliction will get you there. Affliction—your sufferings—will increase your love for God and His glory.
“We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, And not only that, we rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint” Romans 5:2-5.
Paul just listed three great reasons to rejoice in suffering—because suffering produces endurance, which produces proven character, which then produces hope:
Problems give you Endurance.
Endurance gives you Proven Character.
Proven Character gives you Hope.
But a fourth reason, the best of them all, precedes this chain. That reason is that Paul was talking about hope in the glory of God, Romans 5:2.
Let’s explore this churchy expression. What is this abstraction we call “the glory of God”? It may not sound interesting, but it is!
Think of God’s glory as the ultimate, infinite fulfillment of all the greatest beauty and joy you have ever witnessed in His Creation.
Have you seen an astounding sunset, a dramatic mountain range, or the power of an electrical storm? Each reveals God’s glory.
Have you eaten an incredible meal, feasted on beautiful music, traveled to amazing locations? Each reveals God’s glory.
Have you stared in wonder at the full moon? Have you gazed at the Milky Way galaxy and pondered the seemingly infinite universe? Have you watched a meteor shower or the Northern Lights and realized your own infinite smallness? Each reveals God’s glory.
Have you been overwhelmed by young love? Been smitten by your firstborn child? Been moved by your love–or even your grief–for a parent or grandparent? Each reveals God’s glory.
Again, God’s glory is the ultimate, infinite fulfillment of all the greatest beauty and joy you have ever witnessed in His Creation–though it brings glory not to His Creation, but to the Creator Himself.
And Paul’s point is, when you suffer adversity, God will use it to help you to hope in God’s glory. Thus, there are not three links in the chain, but four:
Problems give you Endurance.
Endurance give you Proven Character.
Proven Character give you Hope.
And that Hope is rooted in the Glory of God.
When a Christian suffers while walking with Christ and taking his problems to the Savior, that Christian is transformed into a person with endurance, greater character, and a hope that rests in the excitement of seeing more of God’s glory.
In other words, as you suffer, you become more like Jesus as He fills you with a desire to see more of His glory. He will use every moment of suffering, every tear you shed, to make you more like Him, and to fill you with a stronger and stronger hope rooted in the heart of the Father and the revelation of His glory.
Suffering does not simply “make you grow.” Suffering makes you more like Jesus! Rejoice in your suffering.
God, give us the courage, the hope, and the discipline to rejoice in our afflictions. Fill us with your hope and a greater love for your glory.
Take the time to actually thank God for your afflictions. List your problems and give thanks for each one, knowing God will use it to make you more like Him.
ΑΩ
Household Words: 