Chasing the Wind

I’m looking at today’s “Verse of the Day,” which is a subset of a lesson I’ve recently been studying.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have [a]peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this [b]grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the [c]glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our [d]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.

I added [a] through [d] above, which are things that Christians rejoice when they accept Jesus. The first 3 are easier to understand – peace with God, grace of God, glory of God – because they sound like something you’d want to rejoice in.

The fourth is a little harder. We should rejoice in our sufferings? When I receive a new challenge in my life, my first urge is not to rejoice. Yell or cry or smack the neighbor’s cat, maybe. But rejoice?

Yes, rejoice. The challenges teach us patience and perseverence. That builds our character, and that gives us our hope. That stenghtens our faith, and then we are ready for our next challenge.

As Paul tells us, a new challenge tells us that God is working in our lives. Like smelting gold in a fire to remove impurities, God improves our character through suffering.

It would be nice if God can improve our character by giving us a new boat, but that has a tendency to make us spoiled brats instead. Only when every other thought, every other crutch is pulled out from under us, then we realize we must lean on God. It’s the only thing we have; everything else is temporal.

Over at Coffee Swirls last week, Doug discusses something similar in his Where Was God? article about the tsunami last month. Read Doug’s post in light of the verse from Romans above, and realize God is at work in the lives of those affected by the disaster.

There is also a lesson from the chapter of Luke at News for Christians who points out that this same question came up in Jesus’ day.

Just a few thoughts I’ve been mulling over this past week as I’ve considered the tsunami disaster and personal struggles that friends of faith are going through. I thought I’d share with you this morning.