Endurance, Character, Hope ...

Thursday, Nov 19, 2015. How do we experience the grace of God? We all know that there is a lot of suffering in the life of Christians. We all know that we are a part of this world as other people, and we take part in good things and bad things as well. How does this link into his grace?

In and through all things …

God's grace shows itself in and through all things. Sometimes you might ask yourself: do I succeed or do I fail? Am I good or bad? But it is not that easy. You might succeed, but be on the wrong track. You might suffer, but be on a good way. And God's grace can show itself in the middle of dark times - it full strength! What is good, and what is bad? What will turn out to be a blessing? What will turn out to be a catastrophe?

Some people won a lot of money in the lottery. And after years they realized that it was everything else but a blessing. They lost friends and family, and they spent all their money on stupid things, coming out of this process much poorer than they had been before. What is good?

Paul writes in his letters to the church in Rome about blessing and grace and suffering. Let us read:

1 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. (Romans 5, 1-5)

Endurance, Character, Hope …

Paul links particular experiences. He starts with the suffering experience, and he himself had this a lot, on his journeys, in prison, being stoned several times. But he survived, and suffering generated endurance, character, and finally a lot of hope. That does not mean, there would be a particular pattern of suffering, which the New Testament promotes. No, there is none. You find all different kinds of suffering and death in the life of faithful people. You find all kinds of survival and salvation in their life as well. But there is blessing in all of them, faith and hope!

Indeed, God wants to free our mind, our heart, and our whole Character, to become full of truth, love and hope. It is a hope which is linked to him, the eternal saviour, and to full humanity, to being what humans are when they live with their creator: free, loved, full of grace and peace.

The New Testament promotes a different idea of humanity, one which is truly free, and a true friend of the others. Character is shaped by the Lord, and he has our life in his hand, from the beginning to the end. (RWEP) ... more texts