Be Patient in Trouble

“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble and keep on praying.” Romans 12:12

I grew up in a home that valued respect, and children obeyed their parents. I remember a little plaque that said, “Rule #1: Mom is always right. Rule #2: If Mom is wrong, see Rule #1” As kids, we were inclined to blow past the first rule to see what other options we had. 

When you read this verse in Romans, don’t just skip over the first part of the verse. You’ll end up at “be patient in trouble.” Unlike my childhood household rules, this verse was not written to stand alone. 

“Be patient in trouble” by itself is a difficult mandate, But when we consider the confident hope we have and Christ and choose to find joy in it, our troubles seem to lose their grip on us. We can endure hardship when we consider the hardship Christ endured on our behalf. 

The apostle Paul was imprisoned numerous times, whipped, scourged five times, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked and spent a whole night and day adrift at sea (1 Cor. 11), and yet he refers to the trouble of this world as “light, momentary, affliction” (2 Cor. 4:17). Why? Because Paul rejoiced in our confident hope and (don’t forget the last part) he kept on praying.