Is It Sunny in Your Soul?

We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

Times of suffering have meaning, purpose, and significance. They produce good things in us.

The Bible says that it was for the joy set before Christ that He endured the cross. What joy? The redemption of humanity, the defeat of sin, the opening of the doors of eternity, and the reconciliation of humanity back to God.

Those things could not have happened without His suffering.

We as Believers can withstand the weight of suffering because we can look forward to the Lord completing His will at work in us. We can endure the burden of hardship with disciplined patience because our very salvation gives us this capacity. But we can also teach the culture that we can wait with noticeable joy. Another word I would use to describe this outlook is “sunny.”

What are you doing to surrender to the work of the Spirit in you, making sure that while you are under the weight of suffering, it’s still sunny in your soul? We can’t determine the weather outside, but we can surely submit to the shaping of the weather inside our lives. We don’t have to walk through our storm of life with an inner thunderstorm at the same time. If we have to endure all that comes along with this season of pain, we can remain under it with the bright sunshine of our experience in and through Jesus Christ.

Someone once said that endurance is patience concentrated. Today, I am telling you that endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.

Can you agree with me that today is going to be a great day, because we will make it our choice to endure the weight of difficulty while leaning on the strength our faith gives us?