Glory in Our Suffering

Today's Flat Tire Thought opens the door to some speculation right out the gate by just reading the title. Finding glory in suffering sounds a little challenging at best, and somewhat ludicrous on a surface level. "Oh, I just broke my leg, I am so happy!" I don't think that is how it works. At the moment of breaking a leg the vast majority of people would not be expressing happiness or joy, they typically express pain and suffering, so "unhappiness" would most likely be the word that comes to mind for most people. I think that is easily verifiable and overall something we can all agree on, instances that cause us to suffer are not enjoyable and do not lead us to a place where we can "glory" in our suffering. Then why is it that the Apostle Paul made this statement in Romans 5:3-4? "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope." This is where we will spend our time together today. 

I suppose defining the word glory is appropriate as we dip into this idea of finding glory through suffering. For our purpose the word glory is best defined as, "recognizing God's presence in all facets of our life". The verse Paul shares is a recognition by Paul that God is always with us in the good, the bad, and even in the ugly occurrences of life. To receive glory through suffering isn't something that just happens, it is a process that happens over time and through adversity and affliction. 

Fortunately or as it may appear unfortunately, growth comes through adversity. A seed doesn't grow unless it first dies which enables life and growth to take place, (John 12:24). With our broken leg example, the growth that is experienced through the pain and suffering of a broken leg can be described as perseverance. With a broken leg or any other situation that could be viewed as a setback, we are given a choice. We can either lay down or we can get up, get out, and get going. Rehab, training, exercise, and a continuous effort to improve are all necessary for recovery to take place properly. Those who dig in and set achievable goals see progress and thus develop perseverance. There's just something about learning to persevere over our life's challenges, it builds confidence, improves our outlook on the world, and makes us accountable for our own choices and outcomes. All of this which is gained through developing our personal perseverance molds the person we are becoming, you could say it builds our character. 

When I think of character, I visualize one of those caricature drawings where the artist magnifies certain aspects of the subject's face or body. Something stands out about a person whose character is intact. They don't have to say a word, but people are drawn to someone who has high moral standards, trustworthy and blameless, and leads from a position of service to others over self. The perseverance that is developed through overcoming adversity is the training grounds for building one's character. When I think of overcoming adversity Winston Churchill pops into my frontal lobe. Churchill's call to the Brits to never give up and never quit as Germany blitzed across Europe is energizing to me. The perseverance and resilience Churchill embodied was a rallying cry for the island country, a gritty call that fortified his character and immobilized countries around the world to stand firm alongside Western Europe. The life Jesus lived is the prime example of living a life of high character. Sinless, blameless, and full of compassion and empathy, Jesus lived out a life of service to others to the point of death on the cross. 

If you know the story of Jesus' death on the cross, then you know that is not where the story ends. The life of Jesus would not be complete if we didn't include His ultimate resurrection. This is where hope is invoked. Adversity creates suffering, but it doesn't end there. We face adversity, but we don't sit in it, we persevere moving forward, believing in our heart that God has a purpose for our lives. That perseverance builds momentum in who we are and who we are becoming which shapes our character which is on display in the life we live each day. And guess what? We live out each day with an expectancy of a fulfilled life. We can't see tomorrow, but we place our hope in an understanding that tomorrow will be exactly what God has planned for it to be, and it is our job to live out today to its fullest, striving forward and not looking back! Faith on display. Faith is based in hope, Hebrews 11:1 explains it like this, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We can't see the future, we don't know what tomorrow is going to bring, but because we persevere through adversity and we incorporate that resilience into our daily growth until it just becomes part of who we are. That is the essence of developing character. From there we become transformed from someone that is going it alone in life, to a person confident that we are never going it alone and that there is a purpose for anything and everything in life. When we live there, there is hope and hope does not fail. "And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:5. 

It all begins with faith, but that faith grows through suffering, persevering, and moving forward through life's adversity. We get knocked down, but we become the person who gets back up. That shapes who we are and the person we are known to be. That character trait then carries us forward to a place where we know we will become an overcomer, which culminates in hope and a faith that has been tried, tested, and proven worthy to be glorified! Praise God! Amen. 

Coach Carter