“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
I was reading in Romans 5 this morning, and this portion of Chapter 3 stood out to me…”we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” – Over the last three to four years it seems that I have faced more individual sufferings, trials, and tests than I ever have in my life. The question that popped into my head as I read this was, “Have those issues I have dealt with produced perserverance, character, and hope?” – “Four years and now on the other side of some of these things, have I increased in these areas?”
In my eyes I may say no! Because I live with my imperfections everyday, but my hope is that in the eyes of Christ I have and in the eyes of others, they will see that the Lord has grown me, stretched me, and matured me in perserverance, character, and hope!
Join the Conversation: Are you seeing perserverance, character, and hope being formed in your life? Care to share how God is doing that?
Yes, I can honestly say I struggle through everyday and I only make it through with the grace of God.
Living with Trigeminal Neuralgia is a test everyday. Not to boast but it is according to doctors the most painful disease ever known. It’s nicknamed the suicide disease because the pain is so great people take their lives over it.
As a result of the situations that bring on the pain attacks and the way those attacks come on, there are many, many things I am no longer able to do. And that has taught me humility.
I am a more broken person than I used to be. I used to view my life as MINE and not my Father’s. I am more aware of the fact that He gave me this life to honor Him with. And I look to do that more often. I am more patient than I used to be. I am a kinder person than I was before.
While I am never grateful for the pain, I am grateful for the difference in me.
The hardest prayer I ever had to pray was “God if you can use me better and more effectively to reach people for you with this disease, than let me live with it. But if it’s the same to you and I can still do your will without it, than please take it from me.” I still live with it, He hasn’t healed me yet. But I still want to live this life out to please Him.
@Claire – Thanks for sharing! You are such an inspiration to me and to others. Keep shining for Jesus!
I die daily.
Its been a rough year and a half for me, but I can definitely see the changes. The process hasn’t been easy, but I’m coming out as gold as the scripture says.
Great blog!
I’ve always had a phrase since our daughter died of leukemia at the age of 7 months. It’s not who you are before you go through the fire, it’s who you are on the other side of it. I’ve definitely experienced God and, though her death was so hard for us, we came to know and experience God in ways that we never could have imagined before. We’ve gone through other challenging times, and having been missionaries, we experienced some very real stress in a far away land. But again, learning to trust God has well been worth the ride.
@Cliffordthedawg – Thanks for sharing your story, it was a great encouragement as I am sure it has been to others.