From Tribulation to Perseverance

KATHY GABLER—Paul said we glory in tribulations. If we do not learn to glory in trials it is probably because we have not persevered down the whole path of Romans 5:4, from tribulation to perseverance to character to hope. For we learn to glory if we do not stop along the way and we reach godly hope that is steadfast and unshakeable. Admittedly that is not an easy lesson. There seems to be a crucial threshold, a line of demarcation drawn between character and hope. That threshold is where the enemy comes in like a flood. Wars flare up there, in that threshold of darkness just before dawn. Wars rage there, on the threshold of our deepest weariness. Standing on that threshold, one step away from godly hope that will get us to promise, we can be overwhelmed and exhausted and become so hopeless that we run or quit. That’s why the enemy wages war at this threshold, to drive us aside into hopelessness; for the hopeless will not persevere, will not pursue promise . . . no matter how close it is.