Have you ever been in the midst of a circumstance, a relationship, a loss, or a struggle that felt overwhelming? Something that stole your joy and your peace? Suffering has a way of refining us, and if we make the critical choice of surrendering our pain to God in the midst of the trial and the trouble, the help we can receive could be equally overwhelming.
Suffering can humble us and drive us to surrender to God in ways that the easy life cannot. When everything goes our way, when no difficulties arise, our faith is not tested and cannot grow like it does when life doesn’t quite go the way we planned.
Romans 5:1-5 says this: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 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.”
Here’s the thing, our sufferings can defeat us or do exactly as Paul teaches in Romans 5. It’s our choice as to whether we surrender ourselves under the mighty hand of God for His peace, His hope, His perspective on the suffering that can lift our eyes to see light in the dark and create this endurance of heart that results in greater character, and greater hope that will NOT put us to shame because of His great love. What a promise. You can take the Father God up on His promises, He never fails.
Action Step:
Take five minutes today to write down the burden that’s weighing on your heart. Then pray specifically, “Father God, I surrender this to You. Give me Your peace, Your perspective, and Your strength to walk through it.”
Looking back on your life, can you identify a difficult season that you know realize Yehovah used to strengthen your faith or develop your character?
Recounting His faithfulness in the past builds our faith for the future!