I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Romans 4-7

There is some really good, really deep stuff in what Paul writes about Abraham and how he received God’s promise before he was circumcised.  Perhaps I will go into that at some point.  I certainly encourage you to read what Paul writes here and think about what it means.  However, I want to look at Paul telling us that Abraham’s faith did not waver, because it should give us hope in our own faith.  Paul tells us that Abraham’s faith did not waver.  Yet, it was after God counted Abraham as righteous for his faith that Abraham took Hagar to bed and got her pregnant with Ishmael.  It was after that that he asked God to fulfill His promise through Ishmael.  So, we can see that our doubts, the times when our faith is less than sure, do not count as wavering before God.  That does not mean that we can surrender to our doubts, it just means that having doubts does not mean that we have lost our faith.  Let us believe God’s promises, even when we have doubts about the future, or don’t understand how the things which are happening fit into God’s plan.

Which brings us to the joy we experience from being made right with God by Jesus through the faith which we have in God’s promise.  Not only should we have joy because we have been made right with God, we should also rejoice when  we suffer because of that faith.  Paul tells us that the suffering which we experience produces perseverance (as the NIV translates it).  That perseverance builds character and character gives us hope.  I prefer the NIV use of perseverance to the NLT usage of endurance because perseverance is more active.  To a degree I think we need both endurance and perseverance.  We endure suffering when the suffering comes with no connection to anything we do.  We persevere through suffering when the suffering is directed at us because of the actions which we take.  If we remain faithful we are going to suffer for that faith, therefore let us continue to actively do as God directs us.