“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. “Romans 5:3NLT   

Footsteps #290. Paul in his usual manner took a positive approach to the topic of suffering by claiming that we should boast in our sufferings. Now the word translated as “suffering” is a forceful word. It does not refer to minor inconveniences, but to real hardships. The Greek original is ‘thlipsis,’ which literally means pressure. It is the word used for crushing olives or squeezing grapes to extract the juice. 

In a similar manner, life’s troubles pressure and squeeze Christians. The Bible itself makes it clear that Christians are not immune from suffering and tragedy. Take John the Baptist, for instance. Jesus taught that John was the greatest of the prophets, but he ended up with his head on a platter after languishing in prison. And during those sufferings even John questioned whether Jesus was the One who was to come. 

The Romans apparently dipped the apostle John into boiling oil and imprisoned him on Patmos. And Paul himself was beaten within an inch of his life more than once and had some sort of trial that even prayer hadn’t removed. Joseph languished forn13 years before being elevated to second-in-command of the Egyptian empire. 

Suffering, of course, can do one of two things to people. It can make us bitter or better. It can crush us as in the olive press. Or, we can review our sufferings as instruments to open up new opportunities for growth and development. People who see them as chances for growth can indeed rejoice or boast in even life’s pressures and tribulations. Only in retrospect can I say I have done that, in the heat of the moment I struggled with it.  

Rejoicing in suffering (v3) was not a new thought with Paul. Jesus raised it in the Beatitudes:  read Matt. 5:10-12. That was the only Beatitude that Jesus repeated. Perhaps He needed to do so because it is so hard to swallow. Why rejoice and be glad in the face of trouble? The twice repeated “for” provides one explanation. Both times that preposition is followed by the fact that those who are Christ’s will inherit the kingdom. This world is not the end. Our sufferings will cease someday.