In v. 3 Paul points out “we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Giving thanks is a foundational discipline in the believer’s life, and I had forgotten that. I had stopped giving thanks. I wasn’t choosing gratitude for what I had, instead I was in despair because I was focused on what I had lost, how hard things were, and all the difficulties I was experiencing.
That didn’t mean that my grief would suddenly disappear because I started being thankful. Gratitude and grief can exist together - God’s grace can handle both at the same time.
In v. 5 is where the word hope shows up, and the first glimmer of healing began.
As believers, we are thankful because of the hope we have in Christ. When we lose hope we become depressed and anxious, which is exactly what happened to me. But we have a secure hope in something that we can depend on, which is the hope of Heaven.
He went on to talk about Rom. 5:3-5 - where it say: “...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.”
Suffering produces endurance.
Endurance produces character.
Character produces hope.
Suffering is the kind of thing that destroys human hope. I had let my trial produce anxiety and hopelessness. I was placing my hope in things of this life and my ability to control things, instead of placing my hope in God. And in doing that, my hope was futile. It wasn’t grounded in Christ, the gospel or the hope of Heaven.
But through Jesus Christ, I could rejoice in suffering. We have a divine hope - hope from God who can not lie. The more our hope in this life is diminished, the more our hope in God is increased.
It’s a process to endure through hardship, grow in character and continually place our hope in Christ, and it takes time. We will be in this process until we get to Heaven. I had to learn to continually take my sin to the cross and let God do the work.
- My sin of control was causing me to place my hope in earthly things instead of things of God.
- My sin of pride was keeping me from seeking help and increasing my pain and anxiety.
- I was looking internally and focused on myself instead of looking to the only One who could give me hope.
In suffering, God strips away human hope and increases our hope in God.
- God took me through dark times to show me I needed to release control to Him.
- He allowed me to suffer to rid me of my pride that was keeping me from trusting in Him.
Rom. 15:13 - “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.” He is the God of hope - He fills us with joy, peace and believing, and He fills us with hope.
I also learned that trials do not define us.
The trial of losing my husband and losing my hope did not define me - I am His child; that is what defines me.
- Yes, I was a widow and single mom
- Yes, I was deep in grief
- But that is not my identity
- My identity is in Christ
The conclusion to "Hope Restored" will be live next week.
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