Rejoicing in our trials

Romans 4 & 5

^4:20 Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. ²¹ He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. ²² And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. ²³ And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded ²⁴ for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

^5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ⁷ Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. ⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

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Romans is totally kicking my butt right now. There is so much going on in this short passage alone! Some parts sound really great, like the thought of "confidently and joyfully looking forward to sharing God's glory," but other parts, like "[running] into problems and trials," are not as much something I look forward to. It's verses like that that we (unfortunately) can't ignore.

We can't ignore the fact that right there, in plain English, the Bible tells us "life will not be easy." And not only that, it says we should rejoice in our trials! No wonder people think Christians are crazy. But, luckily for us, it also tells us why we should feel this way about hardships we are facing: because we develop endurance. As Kanye says: "tha-tha-tha-that that don't kill me, can only make me stronger." It doesn't stop at endurance, however. In chapter 5 verse 4 it goes on to say that endurance builds character and character gives us "confident hope of salvation."

Now, "character building" is usually a term parents use when they want you to clean the bathroom or pull weeds, or perform some other tedious, undesirable job, but this ain't your mother's character building. This is talking about Biblical, God-sized character building. Character-that-strengthens-your-belief-that-you're-going-to-heaven sized character building. I'm not sure I can even wrap my head around that concept.

A common reaction to hardships is to get angry at God and blame Him for your problems. However, these verses in Romans 5 suggest just the opposite. According to this passage, struggles in my life should actually strengthen my belief in salvation (ergo strengthening my faith in God to provide it), rather than the other way around.

This passage also mentions our ability to have a relationship with God, thanks to Christ's sacrifice on the cross. I'm not sure I ever noticed before the use of the word "friendship" in 5:10. This to me is such an awesome image, because who wouldn't want to be friends with God? It sounds like a pretty sweet hook-up if you ask me!


Any thoughts on the multitude of stuff I just wrote (if you even made it to the end)? Leave a comment! ;)

Powerful Stuff

In case you weren't aware (and if you know me at all, you are most certainly aware), I am a huge fan of Donald Miller. This video is from a DVD series for small groups called Convergence that he is the host of. The DVDs cover many different topics, but in this particular clip, Don and his guests Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman talk about suffering, and the misconception that once we accept Christ as our Savior our lives will become perfect and problem-free. I know I often fall into the trap of believing that my life should be easy because of my relationship with Jesus, and it's always helpful to be reminded that that just is not the case!

Frustration and False Gods from All Things Converge on Vimeo.

Breathe

Rob Bell is amazing.

As we are coming up to finals, I think we all need a reminder to breathe, and I don't think there could be a better one that this right here:

God's Peace

Philippians 4:6-7 (NLT)
6Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. 7If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

Lately I have been spending more time reading the Bible, and it's amazing how God has already shown my so much in just the past few days. This is one of the verses that He really just hit me with. I am such a worrier. Especially as I am about to finish my freshman year of college (I can hardly believe it!), I find myself constantly worrying about my future. This verse is so great because it gives such a simple answer. Don't worry about anything, pray about everything. And not only that, it says when we do, we will experience peace that is greater than we can even imagine. So think about the most peaceful time in your life and multiply it by a billion, and that is the kind of peace God will give you.
Just another one of His amazing promises. :D

Something to Keep In Mind

Romans 12:12 (NLT)
Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.

I am definitely glad that God has everything planned out for me, because I certainly could not do it on my own. The second part of the verse is important too, because those are two of my big weaknesses: patience and prayer. I tend to only pray when I am extremely stressed or when I feel the need to ask for some some sort of "favor." But this verse says always be prayerful - not "after you have tried to solve your problem on your own and failed, then pray for help." We have to remember that God should be our first resort, not our last.

A Great Promise

Romans 8:38 (NLT)
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away.

:D

Living FOR something

"Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something...is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition."
-Donald Miller

This quote is from a great book called Blue Like Jazz. I had been wanting to read it forever, and I even started it once a couple years ago, but I finally read the whole thing this fall. So many things that Donald Miller wrote in that book totally hit home for me. I'm glad I didn't finish it the first time I started it, because I don't think I would have gotten as much out of it as I did now. It's amazing the difference a couple of years can make. It's amazing the difference not being in high school can make. Haha.
Anyway, back to the point of all this. This quote really stuck out to me, because it put so perfectly into words the thing that I, that we all, struggle with our whole lives. It's one of those things that you read and just say, "you know, I never thought about that before, but it is so true." When you die for something, your suffering and pain are brief, but when you live for something, especially something controversial, you face a daily struggle to stay true to what you believe. I totally admire people who have figured out how to really live for something. It is something that I have yet to figure out.