Hope Production

Romans 5 says 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.

Look at the three precursors to hope: rejoicing in suffering, endurance, and character.

One would think that suffering, endurance, and character building might crush us, instead of producing hope.  But quite the contrary.

When soldiers go to boot camp, the purpose is to make them suffer, push them to endure, and build up character that cannot be broken.  And it works, usually.  But there are many soldiers who go out to battle and still crumble under the fierce intensity of war and loss of lives, and they return home without hope.  That is indeed sad.

But in this verse, we are reminded that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  That pour is like concrete – it’s a firm foundation that cannot be cracked or broken because of Him – not us.

Trials will come upon all of us, but when we rely and stand up on God’s love inside of us, we can rejoice, endure, and come out with character that stands up and believes in the goodness of God – even if we feel as though we’re broken into pieces.  And it’s because his hope rises, restores, and heals.

That’s the kind of God, that’s the commander, we serve.