Faithfully yours - Rethinking Roman 5:3

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Published on Sunday, January 21, 2018

By Neil Strohschein

Neepawa Banner & Press

I have read, meditated and preached on the first few verses of Romans 5 more times than I can remember. But there is one verse in that passage that has always troubled me. It’s verse 3; in which St. Paul says that we “boast in our sufferings.” My discomfort is not with the words themselves, but with what people tend to do with them.

I have met many people through the years (and at times I have been part of that group) who like to boast “about” their sufferings. Their pain is real. They are hurting. They may have suffered heartache, heartbreak or have been let down by people they trusted—no question of that.

But when you listen to them talk, they don’t seem to be interested in finding a solution to their problems. They don’t want them to go away. They want them to stick around so that you and I will feel sorry for them. So they boast “about” their sufferings.

That is not the type of boasting that St. Paul would condone. He urges us to boast “in” our sufferings. In other words, he is asking us to see value in the experiences of life, especially the difficult, painful and challenging ones. He does not want us to focus on the suffering itself; but on all of the beautiful qualities of character that come out of us when we face life’s challenges with the courage and optimism that are rooted in a deeply personal relationship with God.

Three specific benefits are identified in the verses that follow.

First—Endurance (or patience). One of the first lessons life teaches us is that there are no instant solutions to life’s problems. Broken bones take several weeks to heal. Recovering from major surgery can often take several months. Broken relationships can take years to repair and restore. Sometimes, there will only be a partial healing; and we will spend the rest of our lives dealing with the residual effects of a broken body, a broken relationship or a broken life.

As we adapt and adjust to the new realities of life, we develop the ability to accept hardships without setting a deadline for their removal. We will, as noted in last weeks column, take life one day at a time, be thankful for the good days and trust God to help us get through the bad ones.

Second—Experience. As we face and overcome each challenge life sends us, we acquire a set of tools that will help us get through future challenges more easily. As we use these tools, fear and panic give way to confidence and hope in God.

Finally—Love. As our hope and confidence in God increase, so does our ability to reflect his love to everyone we meet; especially to those whose attitudes toward us may seem heartless, selfish and cruel. Thanks to the Spirit that lives within us, we can love, accept and forgive them just as God has loved, accepted and forgiven us.

These traits share one thing in common. They are forged in the furnace of suffering. That’s why, as people of faith, we can boast “in (in the midst of)” our sufferings. Our boasting isn’t about the pain or discomfort that we feel. We aren’t looking for pity. Instead, we want people to know that God is here. He knows what we are going through. He understands how we feel. He cares more about us than we are able to care for ourselves. And he will help us survive and thrive, no matter what life sends us.