From Who Am I?
by Norman Grubb

“Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”–Romans 5:3-4

Daily life is by no means just easy, smooth-running times. It is constantly disturbed by things small or big. Something lost, something gone wrong, responsibilities to fulfill, demanding children, finances, sickness, clashes of personalities, differences of viewpoint, decisions to be made. At these moments, self comes very much alive and we have our human reactions. It is at this spot that we find it hard to grasp that this is precisely God’s purpose that His sons should be involved in disturbing human situations. The positive must have its negative to manifest through, so we must learn to the full what it is to be a negative. It was said of Jesus Himself that though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience through the things which He suffered, and clearly knew that the Son could do nothing of Himself.

We ask a useless questions and mistake the meaning of life if we say, “Will there be no letup from continual pressures?” No. If I am to function in my proper place as a son and inheritor of God’s universe in my eternal destiny, I need to learn first how a son functions in adverse circumstances. A swimmer grows strong against the tide, not with it. It is the trial of my faith which works maturity in me, says James. When we see that, we can expect and welcome what the world calls problems and frustrations.

—Who Am I?