Listen

Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

Think

I’ve always played a lot of basketball. At school, in my yard, alone, and with friends, I’ve dribbled and shot at hoops for hours and hours. One day, while warming up, I jumped up for a rebound, landed, and POP—my Achilles tendon tore.

Suddenly, I couldn’t walk, do many activities, or help others in the ways I was used to. After surgery, I tried to hop up on a ladder on one foot to fix my garage door opener. Thankfully, I was stopped in my hopping tracks by my wife and quickly called two friends to come help.

Joyfully, they appeared and conquered the garage and many other tasks. One helped me learn to walk one step at a time. The other gave me daily check-ins and encouragement to make sure I was progressing through long-term physical therapy. Receiving their help was humbling, and yet through the pain, their help brought endurance, character, and hope as Paul writes about in Romans. I’ll always remember their love poured out for me.

Bryan Jaster

Question to Ponder:

What is a trouble you are experiencing?

Pray

Thank you for the hope we have that our problems and troubles are not the end of the story. Help us to find endurance and character because your love is poured into our hearts. Amen.

Go

It is time.

Serve now.