through whom also we have access by faith into this
grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in
tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance,
character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love
of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to
us. – Romans 5.2-5
‘Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear…’
These are words from a song called ‘Jesus is Coming Soon.’ I like this
verse line because it so well expresses what our lives so often are. Life can
be full of trials, tribulations, testings, and temptations.
We have comfort though. We don't have to wait until we go
the heaven to enjoy the blessings of our gift of salvation and peace with God.
The benefits are for here and now as well as then. We stand in that hope. We
rejoice in that hope. And we can glory in our trials.
But how do we glory in trials? we can do it because:
Trials teach us how to preserver
Perseverance teaches us to have character
Character teaches us to hope
Hope in God will never let us down
But look at the little phrase that comes next. I love the
visual imagery here - 'the love of God is poured out in us by the Holy Spirit
who was given us.'
James tells us to count it all joy when we fall into various
temptations. We might not see it in the
middle of them, but there is a purpose. They are to make us better people, to develop
our character, and to let us experience the pouring out of God's love.
Let us learn to glory in our trials and see them from God's
perspective instead of ours. Let’s rejoice in His love being poured out in our
trials.
1 comment:
Sometimes it bothers me that those who have seen God do the most amazing miracles are sometimes prone to fear. That's NUTS! I used to think the Israelites were the most stupid people on earth. They had seen the Red Sea parted. They got manna in the desert. They saw God gush water from a rock! And every time the least little problem came along they'd moan and groan. Then I realized I'm just like they are. We should all live WITHOUT FEAR. I remember the embarrassment of Y2K when all sorts of terrible things were going to happen as the millenium turned over. Christian got caught up in it. Hoarding food, buying guns and such were seen all over the Christian community. NOTHING HAPPENED! All the fear mongering was a tempest in a teapot. We should laugh at trials and relish them, not cower in fear. That's WORLDLY. I'm goin' to Heaven and I'm not afraid of anything. :-)
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