Wednesday, June 16, 2010: Romans 5:2-5

[Durruck]

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

We need to remember that God is with us in both the good times and the bad. And the hard times are just ways that help build us up. But the hard times also help us to more fully appreciate how good the good times really are, and appreciate what good times are to come!

Side note, the original language doesn't say "hope" in the context "Oh, I really want this to happen, it would be nice if it did..." Rather, it expresses Hope as "I know with absolute certainty that this will come to pass." It is by grace through faith that we are saved; we are promised a place in eternity with God. This is my hope - my cause for elation and the source of my inspiration.

 

[Abba San]

If we only appreciated how the hard times build our character and make our faith stronger - we probably wouldn't try to pray them away so quickly. Thanks for this passage.