Wednesday, August 24, 2016

HANG IN THERE - From Suffering to Hope - Romans 5:1-5 - a blogpost for a sermon to be preached at Kenwood Church in Livonia, MI, on August 28, 2016

Suffering produces perseverance.  Perseverance produces character.  Character produces hope.

Alchemy attempted to produce gold from other common elements.  The idea was that if you could produce gold by means of cheap materials you could reap a great reward.  Alchemy fell short because the product could not be duplicated by taking a shortcut.

How often do I try to shortcut God's process?  How often do I try to attain His character without the requisite suffering and perseverance.  How often do I want hope without developing His character deep within me?

Are you suffering?  Do not think for one moment that God has forgotten you!  He is working with you to develop perseverance, character and hope.  If you want hope, do not give up in the midst of suffering.

Giving up has its own special product-despair (the complete loss or absence of hope).

No comments:

Post a Comment