What if the very trial you’re begging God to take away is the very trial He’s using to build greater character and hope in your spiritual walk? That’s actually what the Bible teaches—“we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;  and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Rom. 5:3-4). In God’s hands, tribulation is never wasted; it’s His workshop of “hope [that] does not disappoint” (v. 5a). How is this so? “because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit . . .” (v. 5b). So let’s learn how to glory in our tribulations—because they’re designed, through God’s love and His enabling Sprit, to produce hope. 

Sermon:https://churchandfamilylife.com/sermons/659b903f04193b12ea375cbb

What if the very thing you're begging God to take away is the very thing He's using to make you whole? And what if your deepest trial is not a detour, it's a direct path to strength, to deeper faith, more hope, and fuller joy. That's actually what the Bible teaches. God is so kind. He leads his people into green pastures.

Romans 5, 3 through 5 says this really shocking super countercultural thing. We also glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. That's Romans 5, 3 through 5. The Christian has a very particular power.

The Christian glories in tribulations. Well, we have to learn how to do that, not just to endure them, not just to survive them, but to glory in them. That's a completely different way of looking at life. Because in God's hands, tribulation is never wasted. It always has a purpose.

And it's actually, it's God's workshop of hope that does not disappoint. We glory, as he says it, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. In other words, the trials are not meant to crush the believer. They're meant to strengthen the believer. They're meant to build endurance.

They're meant to teach us to keep on going, trusting in God, even when everything seems to be going wrong and even in your soul, you're screaming out, I want to quit. We're not talking about some quirky optimism, but of deep, durable hope. It's hope that does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

So this is the work of God in the believer's life through tribulation. The world is telling us to escape all of our pains, to deny them, to turn away from them. God says He's using the pain. He's not punishing you. He's preparing you.

I don't know what trial you're facing today, but whatever it is, God has designed you to glory in your tribulation, not to waste your tribulation, not to resent your tribulations, but to recognize that you are in your Father's hand and He is refining you. And that hope will not disappoint because it's rooted and grounded in love. So glory in your tribulations. Your suffering is not in vain. It's producing something internal and external in your life and also eternal.

And God will carry you. He'll carry you all the way home. So let's learn how to glory in our tribulations because they're designed to produce hope. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Scripture Applied is a production of Church and Family Life.

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