Memory Monday – Week 20

I’m continuing this weeks verse with the theme of hope.

Romans 5:3-5 – Not only so, but we also glory 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.

If anyone understood what it was like to walk through a trial, it was Paul. Notice in this verse the situation he is referring to and has endured is not what we as Christians refer to as a ‘bad day’. This is much more then you lost your keys or you hurt your toe. Depending on what version you read, Paul is referring to going through a trial/tribulation/suffering. It’s serious. It’s definitely much more then just a bad day, and I’ll go ahead and say our trial compared to what Paul went through is nothing! If Paul can give glory to God despite his struggles, I’m encouraged that so can we.

Let’s think about this on practical terms. How does a runner get faster? How do they gain endurance in order to win races? They have to face difficulty. They spend many hours and days training. They grow weary. They have bad training days. They become fatigued and probably some days get tired of the repetition, but that is how they build endurance in order to win. It’s the same for us and our trials, we build perseverance, character and hope by facing trials – going through them grows us and develops us. I think everyone would agree it is much harder to grow when life is full of rainbows and flowers. 🙂

For us, we have been praising the Lord every day for this trial. We are not rejoicing because pain is fun. It’s not! But, because God is using our trial to develop our character and faith. The only way to grow in our faith and closer to Him is by experiencing this suffering. Toward the end of the verse, Paul tells us that hope never disappoints. God never disappoints. He can’t let us down. He promises that what He intends to do, He will finish. We can be confident of this, because he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6.

Join me in making the most of your trials. Have hope. I know I desire to become a better person. I desire to be gain more perseverance, character, and hope. If going through this trial means I gain those characteristics and give more glory to God by doing so, then I will go ahead and say that it is worth it. I wouldn’t change a thing if I could. In the end, the character traits we build will make us much better parents. I can’t wait to tell each one of our children about this journey and share God’s glory and miracles with them.