Growth Through Conviction and Difficulty

Take 2-3 minutes to quiet yourself and ask God to speak to you today through your devotional time.  

Reading: Romans 5:1-11

Be sure to highlight or note anything that stands out to you while you read.  
After reading the passage, take the next 5-10 minutes and spend time reflecting on what you read. You can write these things down in a journal or record them in your phone. Be attentive to both what you highlighted in the passage and what is going on in your life.

Paul begins by reminding us that because we've been justified by faith and we already have peace with God, not earned, but given. From that secure place he says something surprising: we can even rejoice in sufferings, because suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Rom. 5:4). This isn't gritted-teeth optimism; it's possible because God's love has already been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, He's given us.

Following Christ’s way is often a slow and difficult process. It will require us to trust that God is still working on us when we can’t see it. Difficulty is not the evidence we are abandoned. The Spirit works to remind us to give ourselves to the process of becoming what He already made us to be.

How can focusing on what Christ has done for you on the Cross help remind you to trust God’s love in difficult seasons?
        
Now, take 10 minutes to seek God in prayer…  

1. Begin your time in prayer by taking 1-3 minutes to sit in silence (You can take longer if you sense the Spirit already beginning to speak to you).  
2. Pray through the things you sensed God speaking to you through the Scriptures or pray the following prayer: Lord, thank You that You don't waste hard moments. When conviction comes, help me receive it as love, not condemnation. Use my current struggles to grow endurance, character, and hope in me. I want to keep changing. Amen.
   
3. Close by taking 5 minutes to sit in silence, asking God if there is anything else He wants to speak to you today.  

Faith Step:
Recall your most recent difficult moment and identify one honest response to the Spirit's conviction — an apology, a changed attitude, or a surrendered worry — and act on it today.