Patient in Faith 4

Romans 5:3-4

As a parent it may be difficult to watch your child grow and develop. It is part of the maturing process to try things, fail, try again, and ultimately succeed. Just as the saying goes – you learn from your mistakes – you also grow stronger as you repeatedly attempt certain activities.

Little children must learn how to walk on their own. You can’t walk for them, and as they learn there will be the occasional fall. But eventually those falls will become less and less as the child develops, grows, and becomes stronger and more able.

The same is true of faith. When we turn our hearts over to God we are given faith. We know in our souls that we are loved by God and we get that incredible sense of grace from the Lord. But that is the beginning. We must continue to grow and develop spiritually from that point. And along the way we will face challenges and possible setbacks, but these can help us become stronger.

Paul offers encouragement in the fifth chapter of Romans. Why should we rejoice? What does suffering produce? What does perseverance produce? What does character produce?

We certainly do not want or need to go out looking for trouble and challenges, but when they come our way we should meet them with confidence. Paul claims that Christians rejoice in their suffering. This is hard to do and may be an overstatement.

Rather than rejoice because we have troubles, we should rejoice in the opportunity of growth. When we face troubles we are given the opportunity to become better people, believers with a stronger faith.

When troubles and challenges strike we can have the confidence that God will work with us to overcome them and He will help to build us up. The challenges teach us to persevere, to keep plugging away and to hold on dearly to our relationship with Jesus. As we make it through our troubles we are stronger, our faith is deeper. Our relationship is proved to be valid and strong.

With that we have more character, a better, more sound and secure connection to God. And that gives us hope, hope that as we face future challenges we will again be able to rely on God and grow stronger in our faith.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How can you develop a sense of hope to face challenges and troubles?