285 of 365 - Suffering

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
 
​Paul says since we have been justified by faith…we get some pretty cool benefits: peace with God through Jesus, access into grace on which we can stand, and hope in the glory of God. And among these benefits, Paul adds, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our suffering.” Wait! What?

Paul explains, “…suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame…” (Romans 5:3-5)

There are things God does for us because we can’t do them ourselves. We can’t save ourselves. So God did this for us. But there are some things we can do and need to do ourselves. And often suffering is our training ground. Endurance, character, hope…these are things we want; things we want those we love to grow in too.  Not one ounce of suffering is wasted.

I think much of the anxiety we feel about suffering has to do with the anticipation of what it will be like and how we will possibly survive it. God doesn’t give us a sneak peek into that piece, only that He will be with us; He will never leave us in it. Remember when the Israelites were leaving Egypt on their way to the promised land in the desert, and God provided daily manna from heaven? They each took different portions of it, depending on what they needed…and only enough for the day. If people took more to stash some away for later, it would rot. God only provided what they needed at the time. Their daily bread. I think that is how it is with suffering. God is there to provide the sustenance we need to get through it, but only what we need when we need it. The exact amount at the exact time. We can’t predict or plan how we will manage because we haven’t been given that portion of the manna yet…we haven’t needed it yet.

​God’s timing is always precisely the right time. God’s portion is always precisely the right portion. This can give us peace and hope, even when we are scared and in the middle of the fire.
 
Question: Have you experienced a time of suffering with great benefits?