rejoicing in suffering

 

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:2-5

The path from suffering to hope described in Romans Five has some unexpected surprises along the way. It begins by rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. And that is truly our main hope in this world. It is worshipful. It anticipates the time when we are forever with the Lord in constant rejoicing. Many of the great hymns and gospels songs of old celebrate this sense of eternal hope.

But then Paul moves us from rejoicing with God to rejoicing in suffering. And that seems so contrary to the first type of rejoicing. What does it mean to rejoice in suffering? Paul reminds us to remind ourselves that this outcome of painful suffering can be good. Suffering produces endurance in us. And that endurance can be used by a faithful, loving God to show us new levels of His grace and mercy that we might not have appreciated if we had not first suffered.

That endurance then produces character in us... ultimately the character of Christ Who suffered all things for us on the cross. We think about His sufferings and we learn to see the joy in our own difficulties as we get to be like our Master and show Him to others. And then our character lessons from enduring trials lead to future hope to be like Jesus.

That great hope in Jesus, with Jesus, to be like Jesus is not a source of shame, but is our comfort and our strength. It brings us into a fresh awareness of God's love as His Holy Spirit comforts and strengthens us. What began in worship of the Father, through enduring suffering eventually made us more like the Son, strengthening us in our hearts through the nearness and personal work of the Holy Spirit. And because God is known so intimately in this process, we can rejoice in suffering.