Last week, we looked at the foundation of our joy: the grace of God and His free gift of eternal life in Christ. Heaven seems like a great reason to rejoice, right? 

But in the next verse of Romans 5, Paul throws a curveball: 

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings . . .” (Romans 5:3a) 

Wait, what? I’m on board with rejoicing in the thought of eternal glory, but rejoicing in suffering? You better explain yourself, Paul! 

“ . . . Knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” (Romans 5:3b-4)

I’d love to develop endurance, character, and hope. But if I’m honest, I’d rather enjoy a comfortable, easy, suffering-free life. I lose interest my character development quickly if it requires suffering to get there. 

However, God is more concerned with my character than my comfort. He is working to conform me to the likeness of His Son, not to conform my lifestyle to match my neighbor’s. Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic and cancer survivor, said it this way: “Sometimes God permits what He hates to accomplish what He loves.” 

God hates suffering, illness, tragedy, and death. But in His mysterious sovereignty, He uses suffering to accomplish what He loves: teaching His beloved children endurance, growing our character, and giving us hope. When suffering causes our earthly security to crumble, and we see that the only true source of hope is the Lord. We learn where true and lasting joy is found. And our faith grows stronger as we cling to the Lord through our trials. 

Suffering is not good. But growing in character, learning endurance, and finding our hope in the Lord are very good indeed. This gives us a reason to rejoice, even in our suffering. 

No matter what you face this week, God will use your suffering to grow your character, endurance, and hope in Him. 

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What makes you happy? A good night’s sleep? A delicious dinner you didn’t have to cook? A new pair of shoes? (Those are all near the top of my list!) 

These small blessings bring happiness, but often those feelings are fleeting. We enjoy dinner out with friends and then our mood sours because an inconsiderate driver cuts us off on our way home. We wake up feeling rested but find that we’re still irritated or overwhelmed by the day’s events. And when we struggle with ongoing, difficult circumstances, happiness can be hard to find—no matter how many pairs of shoes we buy. 

Last week, we saw in Romans 5:1 that we have peace with God through faith in Christ. In the next verse, we read that we always have a reason to rejoice: 

“Through [Christ] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:2)

Paul says in this verse that we’ve been given access to God’s grace, not because of anything we’ve done. We’ve obtained this access by faith. We stand in the grace of Christ’s righteousness given to us. 

God gives us the promise that we will share in His glory one day in Heaven. Because of Christ, we have a secure standing before God now and a firm hope in eternal life. When our joy is rooted in this hope of future glory, we have an unchanging reason to rejoice through all the highs and lows of this life. 

This week as we face difficulties, let’s cling to the promise that we stand secure in God’s grace and the hope of eternity with Him. And as Paul says in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” 

No matter what you face this week, God’s grace gives you a reason to rejoice. 

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