Rough Things are Good Things || Romans 5:3-4 || Weekend Wind-Down #21

Welcome to the twenty-first week of “Weekend Wind-Down.” This series is where we take the verse of the day, look at the face value interpretation, check the background and context of the verse, do a deeper dive on the focus scripture, and figure out what we can walk away with. 

Today’s verse is Romans 5:3-4, which says this: 

3 – We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

4 – And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 

Face Value

Hardships are inherently good things. They help develop strength in life and our relationship with God. 

Background

Paul wrote this letter to introduce himself to the Roman church and share his message. Paul is explaining to his audience what to believe. He’s setting the foundation of the Christian faith:

• All people are sinful.
• Jesus died to forgive our sins.
• We get made right with God through faith.

This belief structure all comes with a new relationship with Christ. 

Deep Dive

Paul explains that in the future, we will become, but until then, we must overcome. This principle means that, for now, we will experience difficulties that help us grow. We will rejoice in suffering, not because we like pain or dismiss the tragedy, but because we know God uses these difficulties to build our character. The problems that we encounter will develop our perseverance – which, in turn, will strengthen our character and deepen our trust in God. 

Matthew 5:11-12 says this: 

11 – “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.

12 – Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.

Jesus wants us to be happy when persecuted for our faith. This type of persecution can be good because:

• It takes our eyes off earthly rewards
• It strips away superficial belief
• It strengthens our faith if we endure
• It is an example to others who follow as they see how we live while going through it.

Take-Home Point

Our trials can lead us to spiritual treasures. It’s a backward mindset to think that all life’s challenging and troubling parts are good things. We don’t feel comfortable when bad things happen. We want those feelings to go away as quickly as possible. Yet, Jesus is telling us to embrace them. Let him use our weaknesses to show God’s strength. Let our hardships show God’s glory. It’s not allowing ourselves to stay stuck in our trials but to see through to the other side. We don’t stay “in the valley of the shadow of death” but walk through it. 

What does persecute mean in this context? There are three ways to look at it: 

• To aggressively chase, like a hunter goes after his prey
• To earnestly pursue
• To hunt down.
• IN ALL CASES: it’s pursuing with all haste, earnestly desiring to overtake. It’s going after something intentionally and with enthusiasm.

Jesus shares four ways that persecution can be good. 

• It takes our eyes off earthly rewards. It reminds us not to focus on the tangible things from earth but on benefitting the Kingdom of God.
• It strips away superficial belief. It’s forcing us to put action into our words. We can no longer say our beliefs, but we are to show them to the community in the glory of God.
• It strengthens our faith if we endure. It’s strength training. It’s recognizing if we can get through this right now, we can get through something similar again. It’s also showing that if we can get through this, we can get through more challenging things. We learn ways to deal with hardships, understand ways not to let them affect us, gain the motivation to do the work to get out of things and accept the preparations needed for when the next issue comes up.
• It serves as an example to others. Others can see the struggles we’re dealing with and recognize that we’re not letting our struggles beat us. We are walking with God, who shows us how to overcome others.

It’s a backward mindset, but it’s one we can achieve. 

Thank you for joining me for this Weekend Wind-Down as we explored how the challenging parts of life are actually good based on Paul’s teaching in Romans. Stay tuned for the next reflection. Let me close out with prayer. 

Dear God, thank you for our hardships in life. Thank you for showing us how your strength, grace, mercy, and faith work. Please help us to wrap our minds around this backward mindset. Please help us forget the world’s ways when it comes to our hardships and embrace the godly mindset that you’ve given to each of us. It’s in your name; we pray. Amen.