Rejoice in the Suffering

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Wise Living

This Sunday the pastor at my church gave a sermon about healing.  Particularly, about healing from chronic illness.  My pastor has been a type 1 diabetic for 30 years. For 30 years he’s dealt with the suffering of being diabetic, but he emphasized that it’s his role to meet his illness with faith.  Trusting that, in God’s timing, He has the power to heal. My pastor finished his message encouraging us that there’s something to be gleaned even if it wasn’t healing we were waiting for.  We all have suffering, and it’s our job to meet our sufferings with faith.  I started to think of financial hardships.  The past two years have been hard for a lot of people financially.  Many of you reading this have faced unique financial challenges, as well.  My family included.  As I reflected and prayed, I was reminded of one of my favorite verses in Romans:

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 ESV

For those of us in the midst of financial hardship, I think it’s essential to remember to rejoice, and give thanks in our suffering.  God uses these seasons of life to grow us and ultimately help us be more fruitful Christians.  I think about Dave Ramsey and his testimony.  In 1988, Dave owed $1.2 million in debt and declared bankruptcy.  Over the next few years, he began his road to financial recovery.  In the moment, Dave was certainly in the midst of suffering.  That suffering helped build endurance, which built character - of course, that character led to the Dave Ramsey you all know now and has helped build hope for millions of people.

My wife and I have our own financial hardships at the moment.  Today was a reminder for her and I to rejoice more in our current situation.  That it’s a growing season for the both of us.  I hope this encourages you to take some time on reflect on your own struggles, see how you can find a way to rejoice in the midst of them.  

For those finding it hard to rejoice, Paul gives us a message of hope late in Romans 8:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

Romans 8:18 ESV

Nathan Carroll

Registered Assistant

208-918-8655

nathan.carroll@christianwm.com