This plan usually has 2 or 3 Old Testament chapters and 1 New Testament chapter. Yesterday I didn't do the reading, so today was going to be a catch-up day. But I barely got into Romans 5 before I was arrested by the phrase in verse 3 "we boast in tribulation". It's good to read different translations. I had never before read one that used the word "boast" here. Google shows me that other translations instead of "boast" use "glory", "rejoice" and even "exult". God's Word Translation says "We also brag when we are suffering." The Contemporary English Version says "We gladly suffer..."
We do have the example of the apostles who were beaten and threatened in Acts 5, who then "departed from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (verse 41). Also, Paul and Silas, in Acts 16, who had been beaten (they didn't just kid around when they beat their prisoners) and then thrown into the "inner prison" (read filthy, stinking, suffocating. You don't even want to imagine what the bathroom arrangements might have been). Not only that but their feet were fastened in stocks. No shifting of positions to lie on your side. It had to be beyond painfully uncomfortable. So, they moaned and complained, right? No, no. But "at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners heard them" (verse 24,25) So, no whimpering but out-loud praying and praising. Totally remarkable.
Jesus did say in the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are you when men hate you and when they separate you from their company and insult you and cast out your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed your reward is great in heaven" (Luke 6:22,23). Eric and I used to wonder whether "leap for joy" meant you would leap because of joy, or to get joy. Either way, it wouldn't be the natural response. But when did Jesus ever expect His followers to respond according to their natural inclinations?
Back to Romans 5:3..."we also boast in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works endurance." Lines up with James 1:2,3: "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience..." or "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." There are those who say, "Don't ask for patience because that means you're asking for troubles." I say to that, "Wrong!" We already have patience as a fruit of our spirit. And trouble and trials are just a part of life here on this fallen earth. If we respond to our trials and sufferings with joy and praise, we develop or exercise the patience that we already have so it can mature and be perfected.
In an earlier blog, I told of a man my father-in-law saw being tortured in Russia who just smiled through it all, and later testified that he had felt no pain, that God had been faithful to His promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13, that with every temptation, He would also "make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it." Then I questioned if I would be able to stand for my faith in the day of torture, and concluded that I have grace for every struggle that now comes my way, and I can choose to stand in that grace and grow and mature and be prepared for whatever may come.
So I'm asking myself here too: would I be able to praise and sing if I was beaten and imprisoned, or tortured? But I'm thinking, here too, when we encounter any trial, tribulation, trouble or test in our day-to-day life, if we fight off that natural tendency to complain and sink into self-pity and look for sympathy everywhere, and if instead we pray with thanksgiving, rejoice, count it joy, sing, leap for joy, whatever it takes, we will develop our patience, perseverance and endurance.
God is faithful. Always. So you and I can boast in our tribulations!
As I was reading this I was thinking about my brother who when he went through something hard just seemed so calm that it used to bother me. He didn't get all upset and fly off the handle but in many situations approached things peacefully and so one day I asked him and he told me it was because of James 1. He had decided that he wanted that joy that came through trials and so why get upset. I finally understood but I am not where he is at when it comes to that but I know that I have improved. In todays society where everything seems instant praying for patience is not a bad thing but I agree many times people have told me don't pray for patience. It is like having a garden it takes patience for everything to grow and so also the weeding must be done. When the weeding is done then the things in the garden can grow properly, so God when patience is developed is doing the weeding in our lives so that everything else in our lives will grow properly.
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