Hope Through Suffering

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 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.” (Romans 5:3–5, ESV)

Nobody Wants To Do The Dishes

I don’t remember who said it, but there’s a famous saying that goes, “Everybody wants to save the world, but nobody wants to do the dishes.” The point of the saying is that everyone wants to have the glory and prestige that come through “saving the world,” but nobody wants to but in the boring, day-to-day, difficult work that results in saving the world. 

Nobody Wants To Suffer

As I read today’s passage, I couldn’t help but think, “Everybody wants to have hope, but nobody wants to suffer.” That’s true isn’t it? We all want to have hope, lasting hope that endures and overcomes all of our trials. Yet, we don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to have trials. It’s a natural thing for us to avoid pain and suffering. Nobody wants to suffer. 

Suffering Produces Hope

Then you read this passage in Romans. Paul says that we rejoice in our suffering. Why? Because suffering produces endurance. Then, endurance produces character. Then, character produces hope. If you bypass some of the middle steps, you can say suffering produces hope. 

Yet, we all want to have hope without the suffering. This cannot be. We cannot have hope apart from suffering. Hope—the lasting, enduring, strengthening hope—can only come through suffering. If we live our lives constantly avoiding any suffering, we will also live our lives without any hope. 

Rejoice In Suffering

This is why we are called to rejoice in our suffering. I know, I’m not there yet either. I don’t naturally rejoice in my suffering. Yet, the Bible clearly tells us we should rejoice in our suffering. In this passage Paul says it very clearly, “we rejoice in our sufferings” (Romans 5:3). This is not a fluke occurrence or principle. In Colossians 1:24 Paul says, “I rejoice in my sufferings” and in 1 Peter 4:13 says, “Rejoice, insofar as you share Christ’s suffering” and Acts 5:41 tells of the disciples: “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” (Acts 5:41).  Whether you (or I) like it, God calls us to rejoice in our sufferings. 

Rejoice Because Of Hope

If you find yourself asking, “Why? Why are we called to rejoice in our suffering?” There are several answers to this question, but I will give one based on today’s passage. We rejoice in our suffering because we know that it is producing in us something greater than our suffering. We rejoice in our suffering because this suffering is shaping and molding us further into the image of Jesus Christ—producing endurance, character, and hope. We rejoice in this suffering because it is equipping us—strengthening us—for further suffering to come. When the next round of suffering comes, we will be ready for it because our character has been shaped, our endurance strengthened, and our hope has been deepened. So, we rejoice and have hope!