Devotion for Thursday, June 16

Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, 
and character produces hope; and hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:3-5)

In the most recent Living Lutheran magazine, Peter Marty wrote his final column as a commentator of faith and life.  He entitled it "Hope" and preceded to write a beautiful article about the power of hope as the heart of our Christian faith.  

I was particularly moved and challenged by the following paragraph.

For those of us who have long believed that hope powers life, much like a locomotive fuels a train, the apostle Paul reminds us that hope is more like the caboose.  Speaking of the good things that come out of life's difficulties -- "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" -- notice where hope emerges for Paul.  It comes at the end, not the beginning.  It derives from life's struggles. This may be why those who know how to trust their suffering to God know best how hope never disappoints.

What a life-giving and amazing thought; that hope is born amidst our suffering, its genesis in the pain and prayer of difficulty and desperation.  I find this alternative view not only helpful but heartening. Like the cross of Jesus.  Where at once it was only a symbol of death, now, from the death of Jesus is born a new understanding of the cross, as a symbol of the hope of life!  

God of Hope, take our struggles and sufferings and turn them into the good soil of renewal and redemption. Amen.