Have I mentioned how much I love the book of Romans? Every time I read it, or any part of it, it speaks something new and powerful into my heart. That is why I just can’t let the Blogger Small Group journey through it die (for me anyway).
In Romans 5, we start right off with where our joy comes from: the fact that we have peace with God and are currently sitting smack-dab in the center of His grace and goodwill for us. The Greek definition for grace in verse 2 contained this phrase: “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues.”
We have peace with God because we rely so heavily on Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, that faith moves us to grace-ville where we are under the influence of God’s holiness, where we are directed to turn to Christ repeatedly for what we need, where we receive strength to get through our days, exercise for our faith, revelation of God’s will for us, the feeling of being the Apple of the Divine’s Eye. This grace-land is where our motivation comes from to live a virtuous life, to be mini-Jesus’ in a world frought with strife, anger, pain, disease, hunger…
We have this peace, we sit in this grace and that gives us hope. Everyone understands that part, right? That part is the easy part. Except when it isn’t, because sometimes even just staying put within the boundaries of grace is a hard thing. Sometimes your toddler’s emotional issues and hair pulling drive you to jump the fence of grace and wander around out there in the darkness looking for God knows what (answers? like they are going to be out there. Come on!). Sometimes your frustration with your spouse empties you of all compassion and you are an agent of chaos in your own family. Sometimes you are handed a demoralizing circumstance at work and given a head’s up that more is to come. Sometimes, you or your favorite person in the world just sort of blows it. Or sickness comes. Or unexpected bills when your bank account is already groaning under the pressure…. Any of those types of things, whether it comes from within us or from circumstances without…THAT is the source of some pretty intense suffering.
Because we know we have hope, yet we feel hopeless. We know we have grace, but we feel bound still. There is a cognitive dissonance thing happening there, our spirits have trouble reconciling the fact that we have hope, yet we are suffering.
Moving on, Paul tips this all on it’s head…Grace land is not the only reason we rejoice. Peace with God? That’s only half the reason for the party. Paul tells us we are throwing this big party because…BECAUSE…we suffer.
That’s strange. Suffering means pressure, pressing in, tribulation, STRAITS, oppression, distress. Those don’t sound like party-time, excellent situations to me. But listen to Paul as he moves from there back to the hope:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
So this is how it looks to a geek like me:
Suffering–>Perseverance–>Character–>HOPE–>the pouring out of God’s love.
I am reminded of how whenever I would complain about having to do something unpleasant as a child my mother would retort: “it builds character!” These days, kids have the patented eye roll/”Whatever!” combination to use as a response. I can’t remember how I responded but I’m sure it was so totally 80′s. But the idea that our suffering builds character is 1. true (I say from experience) and 2. TRUTH(I say as revelation from the Word).
I am struggling for words here but the long and short of what I want to say, I’ve said before: I am not the person I am today EXCEPT that I suffered. I will not be the person God wants me to be tomorrow until I have persevered through what I am suffering today. My character is not defined by my ease, but carved out of the sorrow, the pain, and the strength given to endure my sufferings. Think about the things we say about people: “You really can tell the true character of a person by how they act when everything falls to bits.” Think about who we think of as heroes–characters who beat whatever horrible odds they were given and are better people because of it. WE hurt with people who are going through similar situations because we’ve “been there, got the T-shirt.” These are examples of how even at our basest level we know this truth.
But no one wants to sign up for suffering in order to gain character! If left to my own devices, I would’ve probably chosen to avoid the suffering, my character be damned. Ya know? Were it not for the sense that God had/has something for me, something different and new and GOOD and rewarding and amazing, I would’ve bailed on the first sign of suffering. Or at least the second. Definitely the tenth or eleventh!!
And so we are full circle again. My hope saved me. The hope that God planted in my spirit at the day of my salvation was tried and proven true through every ounce of my suffering (and will continue to be so!). I have moved from that suffering through endurance and the building of my character back to the hope and grace in which I now stand. It’s kind of like a roller coaster. Scary, but every time the ride ends, I’m all for getting back in line.
Paul then goes into more explanation of why we have this hope in Christ. And I’m kind of skipping over some foundational doctrine when I glaze over the section about how death entered through Adam and Life was restored through Christ. I would need another pot of coffee and a few hours to hammer out all of my thoughts on that (but not today because I am already late for work)…I just want to skip down to the last verse in Chapter 5…
“so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I’m really taken by this phrase “grace might reign.” Sometimes Paul’s choice of words sits with me, resonating through my day. It was like this yesterday when I would mumble to myself “grace might reign.” How do I get grace to reign (no “maybe, might” about it)?
How do I get grace to reign? I LET IT. I sit tight in grace-land (no fence jumping). I learn that today’s suffering is tomorrow’s hope. Today’s big black hole of junk to deal with is tomorrows sweet revelation of what I’ve learned, how I’ve grown, who I can help now, and what I’m prepared to go through next.
So this is me, letting the goodness of my God reign over all the noise makers in my spirit: situations at work that either depress or intimidate me, Fourthborn’s severe meltdowns and hair pulling (she balded herself completely on one side! Gah!), my own amplified anxiety issues, relationship stress, financial squeezing, pressures from several sides related to side projects (announcements coming soon!).
Grace is going to reign over all this and more today. I pray this is true for you as well.
