Glory in our sufferings???

I am currently reading through the book of Romans. The book of Romans has always been a challenging and convicting book for me. It deals so straight forward with sin, it's power, destruction and consequence and yet reminds us of the power of God's grace and the victory we can have over it.

This morning I read chapter five and was so encouraged by the first five verses. I actually quoted some this verses this past weekend and God brought them right back to me this morning.

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5

As followers of Christ we have so much to be thankful and grateful for. We do not need a date on a calendar to remind us to be grateful. We need only to remember what we have in Christ. Through Christ we have been justified, meaning we have a right standing with God and therefore we have continual access to God's grace. That is a benefit that is truly out of this world. Paul says we can boast in the hope of the glory of God, but he reminds us that we can also glory, praise God, be thankful even in the midst of our sufferings. If you grew up in the 80's this a total "whatcha talking about Willis?" moment. (I know pretty cheesy but I was a big Different Strokes fan, come on...) Back to the point, if you are like me, we don't usually glory in our sufferings, we usually wallow, complain and grumble. But Paul reminds us here not to look get sucked in to looking to hard at our circumstances but to focus on God's activity.

Christians are not immune to problems, heartaches or struggles. I am pretty sure if you've stumbled across this rambling you are walking through a few storms yourself, but Paul reminds us here to glory. Glory in what? Well, first don't forget as a believer a true child of God, you have peace with God therefore you will also have the peace of God. Because of what Christ has done and because of our standing with God thru Christ this is the ONLY HELL we will ever know...glory in that.

But also, glory in what God is doing in you through your circumstances. He is maturing you and growing you. Your circumstances is producing perseverance, and perseverance character and character hope and hope does not put us to shame. Glory in that. That as God is allowing tension and pressure He is not allowing it without a purpose and without hope. Don't give your circumstances so much audience that you lose sight of what God is doing. Remember that chapter 8 of this same book, states that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Press on and may you experience God's love that has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit in fresh and encouraging ways today. God Bless!