When I was kid, the only bathroom in our house was an afterthought tucked under the back porch in the corner of the basement. Like a fall-out shelter, it was constructed entirely of concrete. The concrete tub was molded into the floor, its pockmarked paint giving it the appearance of a sleeping rhinoceros. The screened-in porch above was exposed to the winter winds and the only heat source below was a tiny gas heater. At our house, bath-time in the winter was a challenge of Navy Seal proportions!
Next to the concrete tub sat the porcelain throne. It’s well-worn, cracked, wooden seat was always loose and required the agility of a gymnast to simply hang on! You didn’t need reading material in this bathroom; it was “hit-and-git!”
Adding insult to injury, you had to snake your way past a massive coal furnace to reach the crypt-like bathroom in the far corner of a low-ceilinged, damp basement. The furnace squatted like an agitated sumo-wrestler in the center of the musty basement, breathing fire as it guarded the sacred portal. The cold, rough, concrete floor around the furnace was sprinkled with spent coal cinders. You had to tippy-toe through this minefield, bobbing and weaving to avoid the low-hanging cobwebs.
You may think I’m exaggerating. Well,, perhaps—let me check my memory. Nope! According to my memory as a nine-year-old, the story stands approved as read. Looking back, I believe that gauntlet was an important ingredient to my character development. It added grit.
The coal furnace that was a bane in the basement was a blessing in the rest of the house. The heat was boosted upwards into our kitchen by a huge fan, arriving through a large metal floor grate. When properly banked and fired, the coal furnace produced enough heat to melt the elastic in your socks. More than once the over-heated floor register tattooed grid-shaped welts on the bottoms of my feet. This was long before thermo-pane or storm windows, and we were totally unaware of the science of “heat loss” or the advantages of insulation; instead, we focused our energy entirely on heat production. Dad, his hand raised to his face to block the searing heat, would wrestle huge chunks of coal into the furnace’s gaping mouth, slamming the cast iron door with a gloved hand as the black coal sizzled and crackled into blessed BTUs. Oh, the sheer pleasure of huddling over that giant floor register in my PJ’s on frosty mornings!
Have you ever noticed that oftentimes the very things that intimidate us are the same things that strengthen and comfort us? There’s got to be a spiritual thought here, doesn’t there?
I mean, isn’t it true that the very things that frustrate and irritate us are also the instruments of our character development?
“…our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:1-5
Lord Jesus, I often struggle with the hassles of life and whine that I would be better off without them. Help me to realize that each trial is an opportunity to grow stronger in You. Amen.
Read Romans 5:1-5 in your own Bible
- What do you think of this statement: “In order to know peace you must first experience conflict”?
- Based on these verses, is it possible that our suffering is designed to be a blessing?
- Upon what do we stand (verse 2)? What motivates us forward toward the future (verse 2)?
- Think of a time when conflict or suffering obviously worked to your betterment.
- What do you think of when you read, “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”?
Read 1 Peter 1:3-9
- Verse 6 says “In all this you greatly rejoice…” What is “all this” (verses 3-5)?
- Verse 6 says we have “had to” suffer. Why do you think that is?
- According to verse 7, why do we have trials? Do your trials result in praise or pouting?
- Even when you can’t see God in your trials, are you able to joyfully hope in Him (verse 8)? Why or why not?
- What is the end result of the faith that is proved genuine by trials (verse 9)? That’s not a here-and-now proposition, is it? How do you keep your hope fires stoked until the end?
Read 1 Peter 4:12-13 and 5:10
- If we expect heat from a coal furnace, why are we still surprised when the flames hurt us (verse 12)? What’s the purpose of the “fiery ordeals” in this verse?
- Can you think of a time when the end result of suffering was Christ’s glory revealed (verse 13)?
- Additional results of suffering are described in 1 Peter 5:10. How strong do you feel today?
Lord, how often have I complained about problems only to recognize later that you had a greater plan for my life through those problems? Too often, right? I’m truly sorry, please help me to trust you when life gets difficult, knowing that these situations, when entrusted to you will only make me stronger. Help me to realize that the presence of problems is not the absence of You in my life. Amen.