Having Patience and Hope!

When we are suffering physically or passing through a time of great trial, it doesn’t seem possible that any good could ever come out of it. Yet Paul says we can rejoice when we run into problems and trials; and the reason we do is that, though at the time we cannot see it, something good is going to come out of the trial. The suffering itself is not good but the patience, the experience, the hope that spring from it is very good. 

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.”  Romans 5:3-4          

  

When we face trials that are outside of our control, we are made to learn the lesson of patience. Whether we want to or not, we have to wait. We don’t get what we want immediately. But so often, when the trial is finally lifted, we are able to see how God has used even this difficulty to shape our lives, and the lives of others perhaps, in ways that we could never have imagined. Thus, trials give us experience of God’s wisdom and faithfulness.

In the time of suffering we come to place great value on the promises of God. We may know the promises by memory, but they are never so full of meaning as when we claim them in our darkest hours and deepest struggles. The patience and experience we have gained from past deliverances gives us hope to trust in the Lord and in His promises.

Good has come from our trials because we now have a greater sense our weakness and God’s strength. We have been drawn to a closer walk with Him, and His promises are not just words but a reality in our life. So with Paul we “we can rejoice when we run into problems and trials.” 

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