Oh, how I wish the prosperity preachers were right. Life would be much more enjoyable if everyone who came to faith in Jesus had a life free of conflict and difficulty.
But they are not right and we have been promised neither happiness nor comfort in this life. In fact, Jesus told his followers that they were sure to have trouble (John 16:33).
One of the benefits of getting older is that we can gain some perspective on how God has used the difficulties to shape us into who we were designed to be. If nothing else, the difficulties show us how little control we have and how dependent we are upon God. None of us is guaranteed so much as our next breath.
But God is not a codependent being who needs to be needed so our struggles must be more than simply a reminder of our need of God.
Paul tells us in the opening verses of Romans 5 that somehow our troubles are used by God to build hope in us.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.“
Romans 5:1–5, CSB
Paul tells us that we can boast in our afflictions because they produce endurance, character, and hope.
An analogy of a sculptor comes to me. To accomplish what he envisions, the sculptor needs to chip away the pieces of stone that hide the beauty of his creation. Chip by chip, the features of the work of art are revealed to both the sculptor and the world.
It is not a fast process. It is not an easy process. And only the sculptor knows what will be revealed when the process is complete.
Perhaps this is why Paul told the Ephesians to give “thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20, CSB).
We can be thankful for even the hard things because God is using them to make us into what he designed us to be. The sculptor is chipping away the pieces of us that are contrary to his design.
We can submit to the process and be grateful, or we can shake our fists at the heavens in resentment and cursing. Moment by moment the choice is ours.
