Choosing to Let Struggle
What is struggling producing in me?
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3–5 (ESV)
Most people pray for struggle to end.
Paul teaches us to ask a deeper question: What is this struggle producing in me?
Suffering itself does not transform a person. Two people can walk through the same hardship and emerge completely different. One becomes bitter and guarded. Another becomes steady, humble, and full of hope. The difference is not the pain. The difference is the response.
Every struggle presents a quiet choice.
I can choose to rush toward relief, distraction, or control. I can take the easy route, avoiding discomfort as quickly as possible. But when I always escape pressure, I interrupt the work God is doing, annd many times it keeps repeating itself. Endurance never forms. Character remains untested. Hope stays fragile because it has never been proven in difficulty.
Paul shows us another way.
When we remain faithful in hardship, something deeper happens. Endurance grows as we learn to trust God without immediate answers. Character forms as lesser supports fall away. Hope emerges, not as optimism, but as confidence born from experience with God’s sustaining presence.
This is why I choose not to waste suffering. God is not merely trying to change our circumstances. He is forming the kind of person who can carry responsibility, love others well, and finish faithfully.
Don’t waste suffering
The struggle I face today is not meaningless. It is training my heart.
To that end…..Where am I seeking escape instead of allowing God to form endurance in me?
Lord, help me choose not to waste the struggles you allow. Form endurance in me when I want relief, shape my character when I feel pressure, and anchor my hope in your love poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit. Amen.
