Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. Colossians 3:1-2
Have you ever been disappointed by the course of events around you that you were looking forward too? I have. When I thought something would go one way and it ended up going another way. Or even in the comparison game, see how things go for one family, yet that is not happening for me on how I desire it to go.
Read Roman 5:1-2. Paul’s letters to the Roman Christians have been mainly theological at this point. He wanted them to know that they were not justified by the law but by faith in Christ. He spent time helping the Jews and the Gentiles understand their connection with one another as a spiritual family to Abraham. Now, we take a little pause. How would you paraphrase these two verses? Have you ever found hope in the places that never disappoint? Like in God, or Jesus? These two verses can remind us that when life gives us disappointments, there are blessings we can hold onto in the middle of our disappointments.
In these verses, it talks about peace. What a blessing peace can be when we are in the middle of the disappointments. The greek word for peace is eirene. It means the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot. Have you ever had this kind of peace?
Another blessing we find from these two verses is we have access to God. We can enter into a relationship with God through Christ. Read Hebrews 4:16. What do we get to do because of Christ? We get to come boldly to the throne because of Christ. We get to talk and listen to Him through His word and His Spirit. We have unlimited access anytime – day or night. I am so thankful for this.
Another blessing is the ability to confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. What is God’s glory? I struggle with comprehending this phrase! Do you? Read Colossians 3:1-2 above. What are we to think about? What comes to your mind when you think and learn about heaven? Do you ever get homesick for heaven? Paul encourages us to think about our life in heaven which brings us hope. ONLY Jesus can really satisfy our soul. Aligning ourselves with Jesus brings us to hope that aligns us in eternal truths.
The beginning of this chapter, makes me think of other Books of the bible like James, where it talks about having joy in the middle of trials. I never understood that until I decide to find joy in the middle of the mess. You actually can. I am going to believe these verses too that in the middle of the disappointments, I can have peace, access to God, and confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
Read Romans 5:3-4. Problems and trials help us develop endurance. Endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. I love how the word helps us to find these life truths. How do endurance, character, and confidence hope to develop in your seasons of difficulty? Suffering is a normal part of life. God is not the author of the pain we go through, however, he will use it to accomplish His purposes in our lives. It takes faith that God can develop our endurance, character, and confidence in hope.
This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Roman 5:5. There will be disappointments in life. We will go through hard times and hard things. There will be times when we will feel disappointed with God. We don’t always feel hope. Through these emotions, we have to refocus on that we have hope in Jesus.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for taking the disappointment, hurt, and trials and making good out of it. I pray that we will see your good works in our lives. I pray that we will keep our hope in you.
In Jesus Name
Amen
