"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know they help us develop endurance." (Romans 5:3 NLT)
Friday was the final day of school before Thanksgiving break. The students and faculty will enjoy a full week off and then we reconvene for the last three weeks of the calendar year. Bless their hearts, our teachers still attempted instruction. A math teacher stayed home sick and I was pulled off my regular schedule to substitute. None of my classes were keen on complying with the computer-aided assignment. Half-way through the day, I decided they needed a carrot: something to motivate them through the twenty math problems in the last few hours before break. (Pinterest for the win!) Turns out, most kids will work hard for a reward and a game will get the job done.
Their task was simple enough: each team rolled dice to win turkey parts to assemble their bird on a piece of paper. Two dice ensured my fifth graders practiced math facts at high speed and they didn’t even know it! The first team to assemble and name a complete turkey won bragging rights and a piece of candy. There was a catch, though, they had to roll snake eyes to begin.
Interestingly, in each afternoon class I had one team that struggled to roll that first two. They tried and failed and tried again. Within a few minutes, they were saying things like “This is too hard!” and “We’re never going to win!” One team of brothers actually put the dice down and hung their heads in defeat.
Now you and I know how dice work. Unrolled, they will never fall to the needed two. These kiddos had to keep rolling if they hoped to move forward. They needed encouragement to stay in the game! I got close, picked up their dice and rolled them again, giving them a pep talk about perseverance. We simply have to push through and keep trying. We can’t afford to give up because things are hard and we have yet to experience the results we were hoping for. The brothers resumed rolling and within seconds they were on the board and back in the game.
I get it. A game of dice and turkey parts is a lot less intimidating than the game of life. Our attempts happen in flesh and blood frames full of feelings. Failed efforts produce bodily resistance. We, too,, are tempted to sit out and give up altogether.
Today Paul reminds us, our problems and trials are producing something still needed in our character: perseverance. These many disappointments are thinly disguised training opportunities. Endurance is established as we keep showing up, continuing to give our best effort and ever-assuming the posture of a learner.
"And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love." (Romans 5:4-6 NLT)
All this training develops our Christian character and stokes our hope.
Here’s the thing: hope in anything less than God will ultimately disappoint. We may hope in the lottery and lose week after week. We may win big, mismanage the money and wind up more destitute than before. (70% of lottery winners wind up filing bankruptcy within 5 years.) We might be good with our winnings, rely upon ourselves instead of divine intervention and lose out eternally. If we place our hope in our spouse, we are devastated when they prove less than faithful. Hope in our children fails when they go their own way or don’t survive us. Hope in our finances, nation or health are all equally fickle in nature. The only entity that can absorb and sustain all our hope is our living God. And one day we’ll experience the full revelation of that hope.
In the meantime, He give us the Holy Spirit to hold us over. The Holy Spirit’s primary mission is to persuade us of the love of God: His love for us and His love for others. Such discovery moves us past disappointment and into His perfect will.
Today we begin. We cast off disappointment by seeking the Holy Spirit’s assistance in the matter. We ask for a greater revelation of God’s love. Prayer, worship and time in the word are powerful means to accomplish this.
"Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God's people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope He has given to those He has called – His holy people who are His rich and glorious inheritance." (Ephesians 1:15-18 NLT)
Lord, we struggle with disappointment and defeat. It is tough to keep showing up when all we want to do is throw in the towel. Thank You for reminding us what it is You produce in these seasons: endurance. Give us the grace to keep trying , to keep putting ourselves out there and trusting gin Your perfect plan. Stoke the hope in our souls once more. Amen.