Bragging rights

And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  –Romans 5:2b (NIV)
 
What are you hoping in? Paul tells us that real hope is found in something bigger than ourselves. Anything less is mere wishful thinking, “whistling past the graveyard.” He is about to provide a recipe for developing real hope, hope we can count on, hope we can boast in. It's simple, but it isn't easy….
 
I sometimes struggle with the Bible verses that speak of the positive potential of suffering. They can almost make me feel guilty for complaining about tough times. While I see opportunity for growth in the trials, I’ve never sought them out or wished they’d lasted longer.
 
I don’t believe there is anything inherently noble about suffering. I’ve known people who carried their suffering as a badge of honor, reciting their woes to anyone who would listen, as if going through something difficult was somehow unique to them. Suffering doesn’t make us special – it’s a constant in a fallen world. But there can be something redemptive in our suffering, depending on how we respond to it.
 
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  –Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)
 
Suffering produces perseverance. What is perseverance? We may think of perseverance as the mighty oak tree with deep roots standing tall through the fiercest storm, even if it loses all its leaves and half its branches. But could perseverance also be the flexible palm tree, bending to almost horizontal during the hurricane, stripped of all its limbs, but returning to upright once the storm is past?
 
One faces the trial resolute, never yielding an inch, even if it breaks him. The other gives way to the trial, allows it to have its way, but lives to fight another day. Both survive, adapt to a new normal, and continue on. Perseverance can be heroic and inspiring, or it can be desperate, barely hanging on until the storm is over. It’s less about the optics and more about the outcome. An ugly win is still a win.
 
Perseverance produces character. If I can walk through the suffering and still say “God is good”, there is something inside me being formed and reinforced. This is true whether I emerge from the trial with a shout or a whimper. When I look back at the trial and realize I didn’t get through that by my own power, my identity is tattooed with an understanding that God is sovereign and He is for me.
 
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  –Romans 5:5 (NIV)
 
Character produces hope. This hope won’t be put to shame because it isn’t rooted in ourselves or our circumstances or even the decisions and behavior of people and governments with whom we share the planet. We can have hope as we enter the next season of suffering because we know how this works now. The goodness of God is not theoretical; we’ve witnessed it firsthand.

To top it off, He gives us His Spirit as a seal, a deposit guaranteeing our future. Even in our final trial, the one that has terrified humanity for millennia, we have confidence because He holds the outcome. That assurance and the One behind it gives us something to brag about. I’m convinced the world needs to hear more of our boasting in the hope of the glory of God.