“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.” – Romans 12:12
This one verse is packed with so much! Three commands that are to stir up action in us and remind us to keep fighting – a fitting verse for any season of our lives. While some days these three things may seem near impossible to do, the choice is always before us.
Rejoice in our confident hope.
We have hope! Not as the world sees hope, but confident hope that comes from the knowledge of all we have in Jesus! He is the way to relationship with our Creator. Through His death and resurrection we can a have a full and abundant life. We get to thrive in joy because of what Jesus has done for us. Joy that leads to confident hope!
Be patient in trouble.
Patience is such a hard word to smile at and claim that we’ve got. The original text though, is actually better interpreted as “persevering”. Not that this is drastically easier to accomplish at times, but patience can often be taken as ‘being unshakable’ or ‘being able to be calm through anything’. Perseverance carries with it a single focus of ‘making it through’…and sometimes it’s messy. To persevere under misfortunes and trials and to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ, in the face of trouble itself. To endure. Bear bravely. To abide in Christ rather than hide when things get hard. And that doesn’t mean it has to be pretty. We can do it, but we have to choose to keep going – don’t give up!
Keep on praying.
Jesus followers know we need to pray. I think we all likely feel we should be spending more time doing it. To KEEP praying…to continually pray. Constantly being in prayerful conversation with God. It’s critical, because prayer helps ignite the Holy Spirit in our lives…fanning the flame…renewing us.
We can be confident that the hope we have in Jesus is a sure foundation to our lives…even if we feel everything else around us is crumbling.
We can persevere through any tribulation because His ways are better than our ways, and nothing is wasted in the process for those who are in Christ.
We can be devoted to prayer, knowing that God loves us too much to answer our prayers any other way than the best way, and at any other time than the right time. He listens. He knows our hearts intimately and hears our cries. He restores and He renews.
Sister, when’s the last time you rejoiced because of the hope you have in Christ?
Do you need some encouragement that you can be patient (persevere) through the trials you’re facing? Because with Jesus in your corner, you’ve got this!
And in all things, at all times, let’s be a Sisterhood of prayer.
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