Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings. Romans 5:1-3
It is easy to give God glory for the good things in life. When all is well we naturally make a conscious link between our good fortune and God's blessing upon our life. This is of course very appropriate--we should give God thanks for the good things in our life. But what about when we suffer and endure hardships? Do we then blame God? Do we believe God is rewarding us when things go well but punishing us when things go poorly?
It is these types of questions that Paul is addressing in Romans 5:1-5; how do we understand times of blessing and times of suffering. For Paul, it starts with being justified, or made right, before God. Because of God's amazing grace we have peace with God. We no longer have to worry where we stand with the Lord because of what God has done for us. We know how the story ends. God's love for us trumps everything else and we receive the gift of God's grace which offers the promise of eternal life in the future and peace in the present. Paul says we should "boast" in our hope because we will share in the glory of God. We should be so strong in our faith, so confident with our standing before God that we boast. We have nothing to fear! God has won the fight and declared victory on our behalf!
But for Paul it is not just about boasting in times of triumph but boasting in our suffering as well. Because of what Christ has done for us, not only do we know how the story ends, we also know that the pain and sorrow of this world can be redeemed for God's glory. We can learn from our suffering; we can grow from our hardships. In fact, it is often when we suffer and struggle that we have the opportunity to depend on God in powerful ways. In my life, it has been when situations have overwhelmed me, when I was out of ideas and struggling that I turned to God in pain and desperation. Those moments helped me grow and while I do not wish to go through them today, I would not be who I am without the experience of pain and suffering.
When we have peace with God, and confidence in God's grace we can truly boast in our success and suffering. Thanks be to God!
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4 comments:
I was thinking about the last 2 meetings on Romans today. I had a long and difficult/sad conversation with a colleague about her dying brother. I told her that I think it is ok to be angry with God. If anyone can handle it, He surely can. In fact, I feel - as a father - that He would be disappointed in us if we weren't angry/upset/sad/mad about one of our loved ones being taken away from us. We are humans and, unless we are completely evil, how could he expect us to not become emotional and look for answers... and blame? I think he is cool with that, as long as we also come to a conclusion that He is going to take over from here. He will handle what we couldn't. He will take care of the pain and suffering our loved one was going through. And, He wants to help us through it, too. Even Jesus Christ got angry. In his last hours, didn't he vent? Yes. "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?". Isn't that we ask when someone close to us gets taken away from us? Yup.
Took me a long, long time, but I get it now. My Mom was taken from us when she was younger than I am today. I just wondered, "why her and not some of these other losers?". I think I know now. And, I'm cool with that.
Tom
Thanks Tom for thoughtful and personal response. I believe you are right: God does at some level expect us to be angry. There is a long tradition in the OT of people of faith arguing with God. In fact the quote from Jesus on the cross is from Psalm 22 which is the writer arguing with God about how he has been abandoned. God can handle our pain and God can also give us the opportunity to grow from our pain. Because we know the end of the story, we can live in confidence until the day of Jesus Christ. I am cool with that too.
Dear Pastor Ben,
Thank you for continuing your blog. I followed your latest post to this comment which mentions Psalm 22, my touchstone for the past two years. In some way, I have felt each verse of the Psalm through verse 21. Finally at that point of hope and relief, I'm waiting to progress to verse 22. Now I know I will get there.
Monica
Thank you Monica for sharing your journey. I cannot imagine what this has been like for you as a mother. Psalm 22 is one of many lament psalms which follow a pattern of crying out to God and then hope. Verse 22 is when psalm 22 turns to hope, but it is a hope of things yet unseen. I pray that this hope would abide with you. Thanks for following the blog!
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