(My Trail Life USA devotion for this weekend's campout. Our goal is to raise boys to become men of purpose who serve others and serve God. We as Christians are sent forth to preserve external life by being a guide and pointing the lost towards Christ.)
Hope Within Hardships
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Romans 5:3-5 ESV
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Some of you have suffered many trials in life and still carry the scars or even the chains that still enslave you. Ultimately, for all who live long enough, we will eventually experience hardships and sufferings.
Mankind, since the beginning, has always been challenged by why God allows things to occur while preventing others. Our ancestors have endured everything from war, disease, starvation, freezing, the heat, the threat of wildlife, enslavements, barbarism, and everything else that came after the fall of Adam and Eve.
Civilizations once thought to appease hardships were solely based on pleasing the gods. In some cases, it was strictly based on doing good so that good would be returned to you, or that the gods predetermined every action. Other times, people thought that God created us but then left us to our own demise.
Over time, the one true God of the Bible revealed through prophets and His chosen people why certain things occur.
It is an answer that will not satisfy the seeker uncomfortable with faith.
There are many instances of God using suffering, including the obvious: Jesus, His Son. Below is a passage about Joseph from Genesis.
Genesis 45:5-7 ESV
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. If you can recall, Joseph had a vision that led to his brother's jealousy. The vision showed that his family would one day bow down to him as if he were a king. Joseph, despite his circumstances, you wonder if he ever forgot or even laughed at the vision. Joseph would face the absence of freedom, the subjugation of higher authority, false accusations, 3 to 12 years in prison, and the gut-wrenching feeling of being forgotten before things would start to get better.
But notice verse 5, Joseph begins to address his brothers.
5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.
For God sent me!
Before you to preserve life.
Despite the evil intentions of man that God allowed, His ways are higher than ours. We can never comprehend why God allows or intervenes. But rest assured, there is purpose even in the acts of demons, evil plans of men, and the sinful failures of the flesh.
God allowed him to ultimately preserve the lives of an unspeakable number of people. A father would suffer the thought of losing his son. A brother would suffer the thought of failing to save his brother. And Joseph would suffer to preserve the life of his family, the country, and the surrounding people.
But we have the benefit of hindsight. We can read and see the results for centuries to come. For them, living in the moments, they had only grief, regret, and hardship. Joseph had only his faith in the depths of prison.
Today, we cannot see the future or know why God allows or intervenes, but the same challenge for Joseph remains for the Christian.
To abide in faith.
Could you ever see yourself rejoicing in suffering?
Can anyone list the examples of how Paul suffered?
Here are a few: hard labor, imprisonment, flogged, stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, homelessness, danger from the sea and rivers, danger from bandits, danger from the religious opposition, danger from pagan unbelievers, he was sleep deprived, he hungered, felt thirst, the cold, went without clothing, worried for the churches, felt of weakness, and the temptations of sin.
2 Corinthians 11:23-30 NIV
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
Paul was a man who faced suffering of many kinds, yet he says I will boast of the things that show MY weakness.
To boast: properly, living with "head up high," i.e. boasting from a particular vantage point by having the right base of operation to deal successfully with a matter.
What advantage point did Paul have? What was his base of operation that allowed him to deal successfully with suffering?
Think about the times you have faced moments or seasons of difficulty and how you handled them. We will talk about Paul's advantage tomorrow night.
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