No Pain, No Gain

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” Romans 5:3-4

We’ve all heard the phrase, “No pain, no gain.” The truth is we all have more strength and capacity to endure than we think we do. Nobody wants to find out what their capacity to endure is because we know it may involve stretching us beyond our comfort. 

I remember my pastor coming into a meeting where the ministry team was trying to re-group and figure out where we were going to take things next. He drew a single line on a piece of paper and said, “You reach this line when you have done all that you think you are capable of doing. This line is where you see your limits are.” Then he drew a second line about three inches past the first one and said, “This line is where God sees your limits.” He then pointed to the space between the two lines and said, “It’s in this place, between where you think your limits are and the potential that God sees in you, that you grow spiritually because you have to trust God when you are in this place.” 

We can rejoice when we run into problems because even if we feel we have reached our limits, if we will step across that line into the zone where God is developing endurance in us, endurance will develop strength of character. And character will produce hope.