Have you ever noticed how Paul identifies the Lord in Romans 15:5?
He is “the God who gives
endurance and encouragement”!
It is important to understand what God is prepared to give us. If we ask and expect something that is not his will, it will lead to a discouraging long wait! Personally, I would rather God give me trouble free health and prosperity. However, even a cursory reading of Scripture shows such expectations are not realistic in this present world.
We are definitely living in a time when we need God to give us his endurance as we continue to live under restrictions due to Covid-19 and the complications this has created for our life, family, health and work. We all need God to give us his encouragement so that no matter what is going on around us we have the strength, confidence and courage to continue living an overcoming life for God! As we exercise our faith by walking close to God in purity of spirit, word and actions God confirms his presence in us with endurance and encouragement.
The Holy Spirit confirms with our spirit that we are God’s children; loved and cared for by him.
Doubt is banished as we grow more confident in Jesus as our intercessor before our Heavenly Father.
Fear and worry lose their hold on us as we become secure in the knowledge that nothing can separate us from God’s love!
As we trust and follow Jesus, he gives us endurance and encouragement that radiate a light of peace and joy within our soul. This inner light empowers an external radiance that is witnessed by others around us. It is a common tendency of human nature to focus on what is wrong, hard, discouraging, unfair and painful in life. However, the new nature we receive when born again by the Spirit dramatically changes the way we look at life and the world around us.
We see God’s goodness, even in trouble because we know “none of these things separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. This assurance that bad circumstances do not indicate loss of God’s favor, encourages our praise to God!
We see God is worthy of us “giving thanks always for all things”, even in stress and hardship. He is always true and faithful to us, and as we wait for him we will see it!
We see by faith a loving Heavenly Father who “gives good gifts to his children”. Knowing this we “rejoice in the Lord always” confident he is ready to give us his good gifts of endurance and encouragement in every struggle and need.
I wonder if God allows us to experience times of struggle and weakness so he can show his strength and power through us! That was Paul’s experience which he shares in 2 Cor 12. I wonder if God allows certain times of darkness in our world so that the light of his church will shine all the more brightly and clearly! God’s Word shows that we are a light through his gifts of endurance and encouragement. This is a light our world surely needs to see radiating today!
Pastor Ivan
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