Sufferings

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. 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 5:1-5, NIV).

I have long struggled with this idea of rejoicing in my sufferings. How can I find good in such things, I ask? How can I be happy that such things come about? I’m starting to think that it isn’t that we are happy for the struggles that come our way, but instead that we see how God uses those times of struggle. I never wanted to experience my grandparents dying, but I know God used that situation for His glory. He used me to show other’s how different my grieving process was, since I had the assurance that I would see my grandparents in heaven one day. He used a bad time in my life to improve my prayer life and draw me even closer to Him. Through it all He was improving me as a person. He was forming me into the kind of Christian woman He desired me to be. That gives me joy. That gives me hope. That gives me a desire to share my story with the world around me. And that, I believe, is what makes this world, with all of its struggles, worth living in.