Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have^[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Rom 5:1-5

I especially like the phrase, “Now hope does not disappoint because the Love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The seasons of life are often challenging and I have found that there are instances where no amount of advance planning would have prepared us for the challenge at hand other than a true and unshakable belief and hope in God. My sister explained it to me as such:

Now I know how Daddy does it. How he manages despite all the madness, how he doesn’t lose it. It’s only God Who can get you through any of this. I realize from cleaving to Him with the desperation of a dying man that’s how Dad makes it. Just God. God alone. God only. And that’s all. Dad loves Him to a T and has chosen to cleave. And God gets him through it.

His life is premised on Hope based on the WORD he received at the point of meeting God and through the many years of interaction. Hope that has been honed in the fire of the process. Hope that is not and will never be based on the physical and visible things rather it is based on Christ Himself. The one unshakable God.

He is unshakable when it comes to things God has said to the point of walking away from his children till we learn and grow to where we need to be. One thing I have learnt from his example, it to be steadfast in God and stand on His word because this in the face of trouble and challenge is how faith triumphs…standing on THE WORD.

Since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the only way my faith can stand is when I hear and align and then it is tested. No longer can I say God said something and still be caught up with doubt and fear. One does not suffer pain in God for nothing. One suffers it for righteousness. For growth. If the pain we suffer can produce only God in us; we are dearly blessed.

This makes me think of Joseph. He was seventeen when he had his first dream and was thirty when he ascended the throne. He spent decades serving as a slave and later in the dungeon as a prisoner because there was something God would have him learn. There are several things I see in all this:

• There’s always an end game: a purpose, lesson, result bigger than us and anything we could grasp.
• There’s a plan in play: even when it seems so stupid God is totally aware and at work in and through us.
• There’s a lesson: this is always a classroom so that we can learn new things and move on up.
• His glory is at stake: God never does anything just to do something. His goodness and power must be made manifest in and through us.

Therefore faith triumphs in trouble because it produces God in us in unbelievable ways.