Romans 5:1-5 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

We live in God’s grace. That means even though we don’t deserve it, God has established peace with us because of what Jesus did in our place. And we rejoice in the hope, the certainty, that we will enter into the glory of God’s presence because of our faith in Jesus.

 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Paul said that we can also rejoice in our sufferings. That doesn’t sound quite right to our ears. Rejoice in sufferings?

• How can you rejoice when your body is wearing out and your organs are failing and there is nothing anyone can do about it?
• How can you rejoice when you lost all your retirement savings?
• How can you rejoice when you are a man whose entire family is killed when a drunk driver plows into the car your wife is driving?
• How can you rejoice when you are going through a bitter divorce.

These are real situations, real suffering and hardships. Rather than rejoicing, people in these situations often cry out “Why me, Lord?” They are searching for answers that they may never find. They verbalize the frustration that has built up inside. While they may never get a specific answer for their individual circumstances, God does answer us in His Word. He tells us why He allows suffering, trials, tribulations and hardships to come into our lives. Paul says REJOICE and be happy in your suffering. Be glad when it is bad. He says you should rejoice in the face of such things because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, character produces hope, and hope will not disappoint us.

That may not sound like a great deal of comfort while you are in the midst of a traumatic situation, but actually, it is. No matter what is going on in your life, look to the cross and the empty tomb. Focus on the hope that is yours in Christ Jesus, a hope that is always yours. Paul called it the hope of the glory of God. That is yours through faith in Jesus. You live in the confident knowledge that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, you have peace with God.