Day 13: How Is It So Hard?

On Day 12, we looked at one of the blessings of justification (joy); today, we are going to find out more about another two blessings in justification: character and hope. 

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." - Romans 5:3-5

Are you wondering yet why you have to go through so much trouble and hardship even as you've only just moved overseas? Before you left home, you heard that missions work was hard, but now it's personal. Perhaps you are recognizing your sin all the more clearly, or your faith is wilting under the scorching sun of trials, or language difficulties have caused you to doubt your place in this country, or it hurts your heart to see your kids not making friends easily in school. 

Did you know that all of those trials actually produce character? Whew. When I hear that, I don't always know if I should be encouraged or exasperated. I think, "But Lord, are trials really necessary?" He answers, "Yes indeed, for perseverance in suffering produces character." 

Leon Morris puts it this way, "Steadfast endurance leads to the quality of testedness, and this in turn to hope, for the Christian who has been tested has proved God's faithfulness and will surely hope more confidently" (Morris 221). It's similar to the strength and courage of a veteran who has been tempered and tried by experience as opposed to the new recruit who does not yet have the resources and hope of pulling through. 

Suffering as those who have been justified "inaugurates a chain of virtues", which in turn strengthen hope (Moo 303). "Hope, like a muscle, will not be strong if it goes unused" (Moo 303). Hope is, in other words, stimulated by suffering and endurance in the strength of the one who saved us, Jesus (Bruce 114). 

You may feel that you and your family are not thriving in your transition. Everything is against you at times, and on top of that, cultural mistakes, and spiritual challenges abound all the more than ever. Take this as the Lord's grace upon you. He gives you these sufferings in order to produce character and hope in your heart. He is strengthening your "hope muscles", so that you will be better equipped for the work he has ahead for you. And in all of this, he does not leave you alone, for his love is poured out on you.

Works Cited:

Bruce, F. F. Romans - The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985. Print.

Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. Print.

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1988. Print.