Joyful, Patient and Faithful
December 15, 2022
Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
In this chapter of Romans, Paul has a powerful message for the people there. He is telling them about the essence, the character of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He’s explaining faith in Christ, our righteousness and goodness through Christ, and that in Christ, Jews and Gentiles are one.
Our verse today teaches us how to behave like a Christian when we are faced with various situations in our lives. He starts out with being joyful in hope. Why should we be joyful in hope? Because we know that we have hope in Jesus Christ. When we are facing troubles, sometimes we lose our patience and that prevents us from seeing what could truly be ahead for us. But when we are faithful in praying about those troubles, we know that God will answer our prayers.
I’ll break it down a little more. Be joyful in hope. We know that as Christians, we are to rejoice because of the hope we have in Christ. That’s what our whole topic is for December. Because of Jesus, we have hope despite our circumstances because He has promised us victory. We can find rest, and peace and comfort when we put our Hope in Him and not anything else. Our heart can be full of joy when we know we have God’s peace during any situation.
Patient in affliction. This is a hard one for me! But what we need to remember is that afflictions, or hardships or troubles, don’t last forever. They may seem like it at times, but 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us and eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Afflictions, troubles, whatever you want to call them, are for a season. When they are over, we know that the glory of God will be evident for everyone who sees us.
Faithful in Prayer is a tough one too! When we don’t see the answers, we are tempted to stop praying. But when we stop praying, we are denying God the chance to intervene in our lives! So being faithful in prayer means praying without giving up, no matter what kind of prayer request it might be. Praying faithfully requires us to trust that God answers all prayers. So as Christians, we should devote ourselves to prayer and constantly be asking for God’s guidance and help.