Look for Jesus

Stop looking for easy. Look for Jesus.

We tend to seek things that are easy and comfortable. We make decisions based upon what's easier, faster, or more convenient. Not that this is always bad, but I think it tends to become the goal of our life, and that's not what Jesus called us to.

As a follower of Christ, things will be harder. There's no doubt about that. When you become a threat to the enemy, he will try everything he can to take you down. But God will rescue you every single time and that's something to rejoice over!

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." - Romans 5:3-5

There is so much to unpack here, so let's dive right in!

"Not only that..."

If you've never noticed that a LOT of chapters and passages in scripture start in the middle of a thought, you may be surprised how often this happens! This is like a clue to back up and read what happened before this verse. When you take the time to do this, you'll find some rich context that will help give you a deeper understanding of the verses you're studying.

We've got a lot of ground to cover though, so I'll let you go explore the first two verses of chapter five on your own.

"...but we rejoice in our sufferings..."

This is our main idea in this scripture. Everything else is going to come back to this. Rejoice in your sufferings.

I'm going to be completely honest with you, I don't know that I fully understand how to do this. This is really really really hard.

Rejoicing has to do with being glad and taking delight in something. It's an act of joy. Paul is challenging believers to take delight in the hardest parts of our lives. Not just to put on a fake smile and try to be positive, but to truly be glad right in the middle of the suffering.

It sounds kind of crazy and it really doesn't make sense on it's own, so let's keep reading to find out the "why" here.

"...knowing that suffering produces endurance..."

Now we get a really clear map of our "why" right off the bat. Suffering produces endurance in us: the ability to carry on, push through, keep going.

"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:1b-2

Jesus endured the immense suffering of the cross because of the joy set before Him. He had his eyes on something greater and by looking to that joy in the midst of His suffering, endurance was produced in Him.

The same is true for us, when we keep our eyes fixed on our joy, that is Jesus, we are empowered to endure.

"...and endurance produces character..."

Character here comes from the Greek work for "experience." It essentially means something that has been proven through trial, or something that has been tested and proven valuable or worthy.

Isn't that just what we all want? To be valuable, to be worthy. Now, don't get confused and start thinking we have to earn these things, because we don't, in fact we can't. Jesus makes us worthy, and according to this scripture, He does so in part by allowing us to endure through suffering.

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 1:6-7

Don't you just love when scripture affirms scripture? I know, me too!

"...and character produces hope..."

This is where it starts to get really good. This is the part where we start to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, endurance is good and everyone wants to be a person with good character, but hope lights up our souls. Hope is knowing that things will get better. It gives us the will to carry on. Hope is why we can rejoice when things get tough.

"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place..." - Hebrews 6:19

Hope anchors our soul and draws us nearer to God. Are you starting to see how it's possible to rejoice in our suffering?

This chain reaction of suffering - endurance - character - hope, encourages us to know that when we suffer, God is working within us to ultimately produce hope. That means that hope is not only external, but is produced within you. It comes from you as a result of your suffering so you don't lose hope. And not only that, but so you can share that hope to a hopeless world.

Isn't God good?!

But wait! There's more...

"...and hope does not put us to shame because the love of God has been poured into our hearts..."

Shame comes from the enemy, not from God. This beautiful hope that God is producing in you isn't taunting you. It's not telling you that you should be ashamed for not being joyful. It's not saying that you can have hope only if you can get it together and smile through the pain. That's shame talking.

"Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed." - Psalm 34:5

If you listen to the voice of God in your suffering, you'll hear love which will fill you with hope which will, in turn, lead you to rejoicing! See how that works?

But if you let shame into that cycle, it'll stop you in your tracks. Shame will produce just the opposite and send you into a spiral of self-pity and hopelessness.

"...through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Lastly, there's this beautiful little tag that should shake us to our core. THE Holy Spirit, as in God Himself, one of the persons of the Trinity, lives in us.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:8

This is the same Holy Spirit that has filled people throughout the history of the bible to do incredible things for the glory of God. The same Holy Spirit that ignited the early church at Pentecost, the same Holy Spirit that communes with the Father and the Son.

What makes this even better? He's not just sitting there. He's pouring the love of God into our hearts so that we can not only endure through our suffering, but rejoice in it!

My hope for you is that you're beginning to see how it is possible to rejoice in our suffering. And when the suffering comes, try to remember that you're in good company - the presence of Christ.

"Instead, rejoice insofar as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." - 1 Peter 4:13