“And not only this, but ^[a]we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; “Romans 5:3 NASB 

Footsteps #291.V3 Continued. In Luke 6:23 Jesus tells us that Christians should not only rejoice in the face of trouble but actually “leap for joy” (RSV). Try that one when you have been insulted or rejected or are seriously ill or just been robbed. The point is Christians don’t live according to the world’s standards, their focal point in life is Jesus, thus they can rejoice in suffering because they know not only that it is temporary but that God can make good things come out of bad events. 

In 2Corinthians Paul declares in the face of his own suffering and seemingly unanswered prayer that Christ had told him that His “‘grace is sufficient’ for his needs and that His power “‘is made perfect in weakness’ (see 2Cor.12:9, 10). 

Remember what Paul is talking about in Romans. It is easy to become proud and boast about our achievements. But afflictions have a ministry. They show us our helplessness and drive us to Christ, our source of both strength and righteousness. As a result, Christians can rejoice even in suffering. 

The ‘and not only this”  of v3 is like the therefore of v1, it points us back to the idea that Christians should not only rejoice in their hope (Rom.5:2) but also their sufferings (v3). The reason they should rejoice, Paul claims, is that sufferings or pressures set off a chain reaction in their lives that when fully understood can only lead to thanksgiving. 

The first step in that chain is that sufferings produce perseverance. “Perseverance” represents two Greek words that literally mean to abide or stay under. The idea is that a person not only learns to abide in Christ when all is well but also in troublesome times. It is all too easy to quit when life becomes difficult. But Christians discover through hard experience that instead of sufferings being causes of quitting, they can be the means of utilising their faith to enter a deeper relationship with Jesus. A Christian in a communist country, when pressured to give up his faith declared, “We are like nails: the harder you hit us the deeper you drive us.” That is perseverance, that is “staying under” the rule of Christ. If you want to read a faith-changing book on suffering – try, “The Insanity of God.” By Nik Ripken. 366