Afflictions! I didn’t follow Jesus for this, some might say. Lets look at Romans 5 verses 1 to 5:

V1: “Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith. we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Through genuine repentance for our wrong-doings against God, and our acceptance of what Our Lord and Our Friend accomplished on the cross for us, we have been declared righteous by our faith. That sounds great so far.

V2: “Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,  and we rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God”.

We have obtained access into Grace, we can come before The Throne of Grace. {Hebrews 4  verse 16}. We rejoice in Hope of God’s Glory. That still sound great so far.

V3: “And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance”,

Now things don’t sound as good, because the word affliction is mentioned. But what if affliction made us stronger for our journey through life. One would think that peace, grace glory, joy and hope, is enough to make them stronger, but affliction.

V4: “endurance produces proven character, proven character produces hope”.

We just can’t have the good with out the bad, the happy without the sad, because Our Lord and Our Friend has told us we must take up our cross and follow Him. {Matthew 16 verse 24}

V5: “This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through The Holy Spirit who was given to us.

There are steps involved in our journey through life, and we can not just tip toe through the tulips. And no matter what we go through, the hope produced through endurance, and the endurance forged through affliction, will bring us closer to God’s Love which  has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who is also referred to, as The Comforter.

No matter what we go through, we have an Ever-Present help in all we do and go through.

God Bless.

O F J