Two Sides of the Same Coin – HOPE Challenge Day 1
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
Affliction produces endurance produces proven character produces hope. Our hope starts with affliction. Suffering. There is so much suffering in the world and most of the time, we think of it as a bad thing. However, this passage in Romans has a different view. Affliction is good because it causes us to learn to endure. Endurance during suffering yields proven character. And, this proven character is the precursor to hope.
The Greek word for “hope” in this passage is “Elpis”. Interestingly, there are two meanings to “Elpis”. One is what we would expect: “an expectation of good; hope”. Conversely, the other is “an expectation of evil; fear”. Hope and fear, two sides of the same coin.
When we experience affliction, we have a choice in how we will respond to that suffering. Will we persevere and develop a hopeful personality and attitude? Or, will we shrink inside ourselves and allow it to create fear within us?
Hope Challenge Day 1 Action Step:
Are you experiencing hardship or adversity in your life right now? Or, have you in the past? It is time to do a bit of introspection. How do you respond to suffering? Do you feel fear when you think of it or hopeful for what God will bring in the future?
Let’s pray and ask God to help us respond to affliction with endurance, righteous character, and hope.
Hope Challenge Day 1 Prayer:
Dear God, I don’t always respond to hard things like I should. Help me to endure the hard times with righteousness, peace, and hope that only comes because I am convinced of Your incredible love. You have poured Your love into me and given me the Holy Spirit. Help me to listen to Your guidance and be filled with hope in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Click here for the HOPE Challenge overview page and to grab your free printables!
I found this interesting…but as I read the passage I was more settled on another visual: “access through him..” So I have a door marked “faith” and on the other side a sky with clouds marked “glory” and “grace”. I don’t know how to show you my picture and I don’t know about hashtags but maybe you can visualize my idea.
Cool idea! I can visualize your picture! If you are on Facebook, come join us at http://www.facebook.com/devoinaction (the Devotion in Action group) – some people have shared their pictures there. 🙂 If not, it is perfectly fine to keep commenting here. I love your thought of the door and sky. I might try to draw that later today too! 🙂
Outstanding vid and encouragement! THANK YOU!
Thank you for the encouragement! I am so happy you are joining us!
I had forgotten all about the challenge and stumbled into it today (27th). Boy, does this hit me where I live! I have MS and several other serious ailments and my life is lived either in bed or in my wheelchair. Pain is a constant companion. But so are Jesus and the Holy Spirit!!! The love the Father has for me started before creation and nothing can separate me from it! Psalm 119 : 67, 71, and 75 have loooong been verses I’ve “stood” on but you’ve given me another! Thanks to you and to the Spirit for bringing it alive for me! I love how you’ve illustrated the meaning of elpis. Suddenly, I visualized a thumb flipping the coin (the thumb being my circumstances). However the coin landed….heads (hope)… tails (fear) would be how I reacted. Instead it’s a decisive choice. Turn the coin on purpose! Blessings ❤️, Teresa
What a beautiful thought! I love hearing your story and will be praying for you!