Anchored in His StrengthSample

Strength Through Trials

“Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.” — Romans 5:3–4 AMPC

None of us enjoys hardship. Yet Paul tells us to exult and rejoice in our troubles, not because pain is pleasant, but because of what God produces through it. Pressure and affliction are not wasted in the life of a believer—they produce endurance, character, and hope.

Endurance is the ability to keep going when life is hard. Character is the shaping of our faith and integrity through that endurance. And hope is the confident expectation that God is faithful and salvation is secure. Trials become the soil where these fruits grow.

Think about how physical training works. Muscles are strengthened through resistance. The more consistently they are exercised, the stronger they become. Spiritually, the same is true. When we face hardship while clinging to God, we are being trained in endurance. Our faith becomes tested and proven. Our character deepens. Our hope becomes more steady than ever before.

This perspective doesn’t remove the pain of trials, but it transforms our view of them. Instead of asking only, “Why me?” we can begin to ask, “What is God producing in me through this?” That shift turns suffering into a place of growth.

Reflection Question:
What recent challenge in your life has God used to build endurance, character, or hope in you?