Our Peace in the Midst of Suffering

Introduction

Romans 5:1–11 (ESV) — 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 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. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Every person here has experienced suffering to some degree. It is an unfortunate reality that we must all face. We have experienced deaths of our loved ones, illness & disease, the loss of jobs, difficulty in paying bills, and even the deaths of children. On the grander scale, we see wars that cause people losses of their lives, homes, and loved ones. It is no secret that much of the world lives on only a few dollars a day, causing hunger to be rampant and illnesses are virtually untreatable. Throughout history, it is easy to see how numerous the atrocities are, so it is no surprise that the Scriptures are full of stories of suffering as well.

Paul is familiar with suffering. Prior to his conversion, he caused Christians great problems by killing them, and later, he too experienced persecution. He spent much of his life in prison, but he was also beaten and even stoned. Even though he nearly died from the stoning, he remained faithful to Jesus Christ and continued to spread the gospel even in dire circumstances. And if all this was not enough, he spoke of a “thorn in his side” that caused him great consternation. Whatever that “thorn” may have been, he asked the Lord to remove the ailment from him, but God would not. Paul found that in his weakness, the Lord was glorified, for Paul’s strength was not the source of sustainment, but the Lord’s alone.

I can identify with Paul in that I suffer chronic migraines. There have been seasons where I did not suffer the affliction; however, I am in a season of contention with the suffering they bring. It was this very week that an attack began on Tuesday evening and has continued until today. Having a research paper to finish, a few smaller assignments, and preparation to complete for this day, I felt helpless. I used every medication at my disposal, received an injection at the doctor’s office, and spent time in prayer. The hardest part was asking God for this affliction to cease, for there’s nothing I’ve done not to deserve this suffering. I am but a sinner, and He has already given me the greatest gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Expository Analysis

Romans 5:1 (ESV): “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Nothing better can come in this lifetime than the reconciliation with God that has been provided. It is solely upon our justification by faith that this is possible. Even when we face the bleakest of circumstances, we find our peace in Jesus Christ for He is with us. The Lord is the one that walks before us and fights our battles—he will neither fail us nor forsake us. It is this assurance that quells our fears that allows believers to find peace in the most difficult of times.

In 2006, on the last day of my junior year, I was t-boned by an 18-wheeler right here on Freeman. Before the accident was reported, the firefighters were already on the way, for they heard the accident themselves. The roof of my car was crushed down upon me, and somehow my legs had gotten stuck underneath the seat of my car. Initially reports claimed I was a fatality, but after much work, the emergency workers were able to get to me. My legs were still stuck underneath the seat, so they received permission to break my bones to free me. It was at this point that my legs slid out as if they were never stuck. While this is a miracle in itself, the major issue was still in effect—head trauma. I was sent to Sentara Norfolk via the Nightingale. While I was unresponsive this entire time, I am told that I sat up and yelled, “I’m trying to sleep,” and then became unresponsive again. This is quite humorous to me as it is so typical of a teenager to just want to sleep! I would spend five more days at the ICU, comatose, with no end in sight. Because I had a closed-head injury, there was little that could be done. The scans showed that the injuries were diffuse axonal, or throughout the entire brain, although there was a concentration in the frontal lobe. During this time, little hope existed, but my parents leaned upon the Lord, for they knew it was only in His power that I may be healed. And as if it never happened, I awoke from the coma and requested McDonald's. I admit that the language I used contained a four-lettered word, but please do not hold that against me—I just came out of a coma! While this story has a miraculous ending, we must recognize the pain that was occurring during the ordeal. It was only through prayer and relying on Jesus Christ that my parents could even get through one day to the next. In our suffering, we must rely solely on His power.

Romans 5:2 (ESV): “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Prior to Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, access to God was limited. If one were to see God face-to-face, death was imminent, for we could not handle the weight of His glory. Jesus Christ, along with the Holy Spirit, provided us access to God. Through our justification, we have been reconciled. Our reconciliation allows the Holy Spirit to indwell in the believer, providing an intimate relationship that was never thought possible. This grace that was shown is immovable and unshakeable—even when facing unsurmountable circumstances before us. For when we see the impossible—we know our strength comes from the Lord making the circumstances possible to endure. It is through these situations that it becomes clear that it is not by our strength that we endure, but through God’s grace alone. It is for this glory of God that we rejoice with hope for He is for us, so all else will fall to the wayside according to His will. We have no fear of what will occur for we have secured our future in the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

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.”

Every aspect of our life should be done to glorify the creator, our Lord. So in all our sufferings, no matter how grand or minuscule, our suffering should glorify Christ, who endured great suffering for us while we were still an enmity with Him. We were born enemies of Christ in our sinful nature, but through God’s great love for His creation, he provided a way to reconcile us to Him.

It is through our sufferings that we build the endurance of our faith. A different translation may say that our faith produces patience. It is something many of us wish we had, but like many others have said, beware of praying for patience. In my weakness, I would prefer to not undergo more difficulties to become more patient! On the other hand, amazing things can come from difficulties—ask any loving mother, and they will admit childbirth was worth the pain to bring a beautiful gift of God into this world. That same beautiful gift is sure to bring about more patience through the numerous related difficulties that come with raising a child. Our tribulations will bring blessings and continue to conform us to the image of Christ.

Through the endurance that is produced in our suffering, we are sanctified. Just as a refiner burns away impurities from gold to make a beautiful material, our sufferings expose and remove the flaws that exist in our spirit. As we suffer, we recognize God is the one that sustains us. We respond with greater hope in the glory of God. Not all suffering is the same, but in one way or another, it will be used to glorify God, for he works all things to His Glory. Through every ordeal that has occurred, either by my own doing or otherwise, I have seen the hand of God working within the midst of the storm to bring about results that later glorify Himself. I would not willingly have chosen to go through them, for I am weak, but God has shown me His strength to get me through them.

Romans 5:6–8 (ESV): “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

No matter how much humans may try, we are unable to save ourselves. If you go to a bookstore, which they are fewer today than they used to be, you will find large sections dedicated to self-help. I humbly suggest to all listening that there is not one thing you can do to make yourself better except by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. By submitting yourself to His authority, you will be conformed to the image of Christ as empowered by the Holy Spirit. It is only Christ that was perfect, so anything less is nothing more than lipstick on a pig. We must become less ourselves and more like him. Through this process of sanctification, it will no longer be ourselves that others see, but instead, Christ will radiate from us. By this, we truly become the salt and light of this darkened world—both spreading the Truth and preserving righteousness.

Even when we did not deserve grace, God provided sinners like us with a gift that surpasses any other gift that can be given. Ask any truly remorseful person facing prison how grateful for the gift of grace by a judge. We all deserve the wages of sin, which is death, but instead, God, in the most loving way came to this world to pay our debt. Jesu Christ, who is fully God and fully human suffered for us by being beaten, scourged, and hung on a cross to die as to be the final Passover lamb that reconciled sinful humanity with God. There are many gifts that we enjoy, but no gift is greater than what Jesu Christ made possible. Because of His sacrifice, we have a relationship with God and the assurance of eternal life. No matter what we face today, it is but a blink of time in the grand scheme of the eternal life we will spend with our loving creator.

Romans 5:9–10 (ESV): “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

The payment that we owe, our lives, was already paid by Jesus Christ. We are reassured that we are saved from the wrath of God by the blood that he flowed freely for wretched sinners such as us. He did this while we were enemies of God—nothing more than children of the Satan living lives for the materialism that this world provides. We were further reassured of our salvation through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as to seal that our judgment is settled.

While Jesus showed such great love to us, it is so difficult to love those that treat you poorly, much less those that intentionally cause suffering in your life. We are commanded to “love your neighbor as yourself,” but many times, we read it as “love your neighbors that are easy to deal with and love you back.”

I have dealt with ridicule from co-workers for the migraines that I suffer, and in general, it seems nothing I do is correct or good enough. This is greatly frustrating to work in a hostile work environment, but not all are this way. There are indeed people that are there that I have deep respect for, but for the ones that cause me suffering, it is truly a struggle to show them, love. Despite this, my father paid for the lunch of one that ridicules me the most. Even though I am now 30 years old, my father is still showing me by example how we must live as the Scriptures command us to. While that person will likely never comprehend why this was done for them, it is through actions as such that we can love our neighbor—including the difficult ones.

If God could love us while we were enemies, then we should be able to love our enemies as well. It is our actions that made Jesus Christ’s death on the cross necessary—we killed Jesus! Despite this, He loves us and reconciled us with His blood. How can we not show that love of Christ to our enemies as well?

Romans 5:11 (ESV): “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

We presently have peace because we have a joy that nothing can quench. The reconciliation that Christ has provided is such a joyous thing that we may be part of the Kingdom of God. While we many times focus on the Parousia or second coming of Christ, we must remind ourselves that the Kingdom is here! We are part of the Kingdom, and the Holy Spirit indwells in us already. While final judgment has not occurred and Heaven is not on Earth yet, we have a present peace of knowing that we can endure for Christ anything necessary for we have eternal life to look forward to.

Concluding Remarks

When we consider the Christian that is persecuted for their beliefs, it is easy to comprehend the worth of endurance for Christ. It is much more difficult for us to comprehend the suffering that seems to be needless atrocities that occur like the agonizing death of a Child. It is difficult to understand why others are left to suffer at the hands of abusers, or why it always seems nothing ever goes your way—as if the whole world is against you. I cannot provide answers to all these things. What I can offer you is that there is peace available through a relationship with Jesus Christ. You likely will have moments that still seem overwhelming, but we are sustained by the Lord. It reminds me of my favorite Psalm:

Psalm 121:1–8 (ESV): “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

Although we face great obstacles, the Psalmist reminds us that we receive our strength from the Lord to face them. We are further reassured that God will not fail us. It is hard for us to accept as so many people fail us each and every day, but they are not God. God is the truth and does not lie, so if Scripture says he will not fail, then we are assured of the reality. Just as we trust a parachute to save us, we must trust God will save us. The difference is that parachutes fail sometimes, but God does not!

It is unfortunate that many of us only turn to the Lord in times of need. I would not argue that suffering is caused to draw some of closer, but instead, I would argue God utilizes these situations to draw us near. For some people, tough situations spark a relationship with God that endures the test of time, while others fall away like chaff as soon as things turn for the better. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, but do we ever really? In both the good and the bad, we must focus on the Lord. When hard times are faced, the person with a deep relationship with the Lord will not immediately falter, but instead they will trust God and lean on His strength even more. And while the situation may be a shock and carry some negative emotions, the mature believer will not be utterly broken, for there is peace with knowing Jesus Christ.

In the near future, American Christians may begin to face the same persecution that is seen in other areas of the world. While the Scriptures are the very word of God, there are many that will call it hate speech. We may face fines for speaking the Truth or even imprisonment if things continue down the path we are already on. Already, Christians are being berated by non-believers for being hateful simply because we recognize the commands of the one true God. Post-modernism argues that there are many individual truths and no universal truth, yet our Lord states that He alone is the Truth. Currently, there is a large push against Christians for holding pro-life views simply because we recognize life for what it is, and even science admits that a developing baby is life, yet we are seen are the intolerant ones that ruin other people’s lives. It is despicable that those protecting the unborn from murder are considered the evil ones! The pro-choice movement will try to gain traction through asking a Christian if they are going to adopt the unwanted children, but the reality is Christians are the ones that adopt the overwhelming number. We live in a time that we truly may be persecuted for Christ simply for our beliefs. So while we contend with the numerous hardships of daily life, we may have more issues soon:

2 Timothy 3:12–13 (ESV): “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

I urge all here to faithfully draw nearer to the Lord to prepare for the future. Hold fast to what is true, and you will find peace in the midst of suffering.

Prayer