Romans 5:1-5 (ESV)
[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [2] Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of
the glory of God. [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing
that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us.
Verse 3 says “we rejoice in our sufferings.” The New American Standard Bible
says, “We exult in our tribulations.” King James and New King James use the
word “tribulations” as well. Whether we read sufferings or tribulations we tend
to think of this as external attacks. We are to rejoice when we are persecuted
for our faith. We are to rejoice when we are attacked or ridiculed for what we
believe. That is difficult enough, but that is not the real intent of this word.
It is not a reference to external suffering as much as internal, emotional suffering.
It is the Greek word thlipsesin, which is described as, “pressure (what
constricts or rubs together), used of a narrow place that ‘hems someone in’;
tribulation, especially internal pressure that causes someone to feel
confined (restricted, ‘without options’).”[1]
“Internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined.” That sounds an
awful lot like stress and anxiety. We are living in a world where our young
people are perhaps more anxious than ever before. Anxiety levels in our culture
are sky high across the board. Politically, economically, relationally the
changes swirling around us are increasing anxiety exponentially. I hate stress
and anxiety! It raises my blood pressure. It ties my stomach in knots. It skews
my ability to think clearly. Yet here is God saying that we can rejoice in our
stress and anxiety because it creates the opportunity for character, hope, and
love.
The reason we can remain less anxious in times of high stress is because we
have the assurance that God is using this to produce character and hope
(expectation) in us. We are assured of this because God has poured out his love
into our hearts through his Holy Spirit. And therein lies the issue. God has
poured out his love into our hearts through his Holy Spirit, yet we often choose
self-preservation over love. Self-preservation leads to increased anxiety.
The insistence on hanging on to what we have, what we had, or what we desire
is the opposite of love. The love of God is at the root of this passage. It was
his love for us that brought justification and peace to those who believe. It
was the love of God that caused Jesus to die for our ungodly lives “while we
were still weak” (infirm, sick, without strength; Rom 5:6). And it is that very
self-sacrificing love of God that is shed abroad in the hearts of believers by
the indwelling Holy Spirit. When we trust God to love others through us no
matter how things turn out, God does an amazing thing in us. He grows character
and hope in us. The thing is, it is stress and anxiety that give us that
opportunity.
I wrote earlier that I hate stress and anxiety, but perhaps I need to re-evaluate. God, Help me see the value of those times when you drop me into situations of stress and anxiety. May I keep my eyes on you and off myself. May I learn to rejoice with Paul that you are, in those moments, giving me the opportunity to allow the love of God to flow through me building both character and expectation. May I then learn to rest in your peace in those times for “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
[1] HELPS
word studies from https://biblehub.com/greek/2347.htm accessed June 12, 2021.
Bold print is mine.
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