Trials Produce

 

In Romans 5:1-2 Paul says that we have been justified by faith and that means we have peace with God, and that through our faith, we now have access to God’s grace and we stand in that grace and rejoice in the hope we have in God.

 

Then in Romans 5:3-5 Paul says, “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.”

 

We are to rejoice in our sufferings because sufferings produce endurance.

 

The Christian life is an iron man triathlon, not a hundred-meter sprint. There will days of difficulty and trials and there will be days of great enjoyment. We have to stand firm in our faith believing that God is with us in the trials and has a purpose for them. We don’t need to give up.

 

Paul says in Galatians 6:9 that we are not to grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 

Godly endurance produces a great harvest.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not giving up but enduring and reaping a harvest.

 

We rejoice in our sufferings because endurance produces character.

 

God did not create us for time but for eternity. Trials produce endurance and, as we endure trials, that will produce godly character in us. We will become more and more conformed to the image of Jesus.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing the trials we face living in a fallen world to produce godly character and make us more like Jesus.

 

We rejoice in our sufferings because godly character produces hope.

 

Hope is not wishing something will happen or that something is true. Hope is the confidence that when God says something, it is and will happen. Hope is not based in ourselves or circumstances but in Jesus. And Jesus is trustworthy.

 

We rejoice in our sufferings because hope in God will never put us to shame but will empower us to experience His love.

 

When I hope in me, I can disappoint me.

When I hope in others, they can disappoint me.

When I hope in circumstances just working out, they can disappoint me.

 

But when I hope in Jesus, I am never disappointed.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove Walls is letting Jesus be what satisfies you and totally depending on Him.

 

This has been a tough week for our faith family with many dealing with covid and others with other health issues. It is not easy for me to see our family suffering but I see God at work in the midst of the struggle. God allowed me to baptize two today and will be baptizing one next Sunday, and that shows me that God is at work in the middle of difficult times.

 

In Trials, in Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe