Faith Triumphs in Trouble
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Now that our sins have been forgiven, the slate of our lives has been wiped clean after everything that was on it as a charge against us has been placed onto Jesus’ list of charges instead, we now have peace with God through our faith in Jesus. That is where we get the grace of God from – through the faith which, as mentioned before, is placed into us by God, that also enables us to experience God’s grace. What is grace, you ask? Grace is God’s unmerited favor – something that we cannot purchase by our actions, nor in working with God to pay off our debt. This is God, doing all the work necessary to pay for our sins, then placing us up in righteousness. It is through God’s grace that we are adopted as His children – now ambassadors of the good news of Jesus Christ here on the earth until He comes in glory to claim us as His own. It is God’s grace that covers us and protects us. It is God’s grace that stops the justifiable and righteous wrath of the creator God, to whom everything and everyone belongs, when our rebellious lives are turned toward Him and our ability to judge for ourselves right from wrong is placed back into His rightful hands, and the full control of our lives and our actions are placed under the control of Jesus Christ. That’s what the grace of God is. It is because of this immeasurable grace that God has placed onto our lives that we can stand back and focus entirely on what God has done on our behalf and give God all the glory for what has been performed.
Now that we have been granted so much, we are able to glorify God in our hardships and troubles that we experience. We shouldn’t break down and blame God when our beloved children die, or when our friends or family are lost to eternity apart from God, or when we get cancer or some other incurable disease. We should put the glory for that into the hands of God. Why? Because it is through these experiences that God will teach us more about Himself, and more about our relationship with Him. We will learn to persevere through them, while keeping our eyes on Him first and foremost. Our continual perseverance will shape our character into the image and likeness of God so we can more accurately reflect Him into an unbelieving world. That character of Christ that’s developed within us will produce hope – hope for the world to come, hope in the cause of Christ, hope in the promises of God on this generation and the generations to come, and hope that God will do the right thing in the right time, every time. Worry, fear, and concerns about the world we live in will disappear when your hope is not on yourself, your portfolio, or your government, but on the God who controls all these things and more. That hope will not ever disappoint, because we know that God exists and that He is true in that He has revealed Himself to us in the Holy Spirit which He has placed into us to help guide our actions, words, and direction as we seek first to praise Him in all that He is. The Holy Spirit is our down payment on the kingdom to come.