Suffering Produces Endurance, Character, and Hope

October 10, 2022

In Romans 5:3 Paul writes a challenging statement. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…”

We’ve seen suffering, trial, and temptation in our lives and in the lives of others. We have seen parents, forced by divorce, or abuse, or abandonment, to raise children alone. We have seen such circumstances break peoples’ spirits, but how many examples of endurance can you lift up? We have seen grief and greed destroy families when the person who held them together dies, and squabbling about inheritance tears the family apart, but we don’t always see character. We’ve seen financial distress cause despair, depression, and destruction, but sometimes hope is in short supply.

Suffering does not necessarily lead to hope, but it can! Paul knows all about seeking God’s glory, and he knows what he is writing about here. As a Jewish rabbi, he was highly respected. When he sought to purify the Jewish faith from the Christians, he gained a noteworthy reputation. But he found all these good works left him empty inside. Like too many of our good works, done presumably to the glory of God, they are really self-serving projects for personal glory. But when Paul dedicated his life to Jesus Christ, he would endure any suffering to strengthen the faith. And he found endurance, character, and hope, not in his own strength, but in the power of God’s Spirit working in and through him.

This text speaks to me in a very personal way. It challenges me to confront sides of myself that I would rather not. I like to think I “have it all together.” I like to think I am cool with young people, make sound decisions, am a strong leader, and fun to be around. These are not unique thoughts. We like to think we “have it all together,” and many times, amazingly, we do!

But there are times when life throws more trial, suffering, loss and struggle at me than I can handle with my own personal strength and resources. Do you know what I mean? I remember one year I had six funerals in seven weeks, before Easter. I found myself emotionally and spiritually exhausted. In my weakness I realized how weak, self-centered, uncaring, and unfaithful I could be. This is not a pleasant experience for one who “has it all together.”

This was a crucial time for me to learn whether suffering will lead to despair or hope. If I had looked inward, for my own strength, there are times I had run out. But when I looked inward, for the spiritual strength of God, I have always found endurance and hope. When I pray for healing, presence, and strength, I have found how true Paul’s words are. Through the years life’s struggles have presented greater and greater tests. I am not always quick to turn to God, and don’t always do so willingly, but once I finally do God grants me the gifts of endurance, character, and hope again and again.

I have found each time I am weak in strength and zeal that God will heal me. This has been a hard lesson to learn. Those six funerals in seven weeks happened many years ago, and now when I look back I can see how God was building me into a better minister and taught me to have more endurance, character, and hope. Each time this happens I better understand how hope can rise up out of suffering, as the truth of Paul’s words in Romans 8:39 come true over and over again: “Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is ours in Christ Jesus.” Join me in trusting God to provide the strength and hope for life in all life’s trials and triumphs.

Are you going through a time of personal trial right now? Think about one or more trials you are facing and see if you can discern what God is doing through those trials in your life. Have you sought the guidance and strength from God to endure those trials? Name some past victories you have had in the struggles of life. How have these struggles and victories helped build up your character so you are better able to endure today? Is your hope built on your own wisdom, wit, and worth, or is your hope built on the sure foundation Jesus Christ provides to be victorious over all of life’s trials? What examples have you had in your life that point to the truth that God is building endurance, character, and hope in your life?