Exult God in tribulation

Many of you might be looking at the photo on the left wondering, "What in the world??" All my geeky friends out there will probably immediately recognize this as the scene in Lord of the RIngs where despite overwhelming odds, challenges, and despite the need to chase down their quarry, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli set off to rescue their hobbit friends- Merry and Pippin, from the clutches of evil. Why do they go after them when all hope seems lost? Because it was the right thing to do.
God's Word tells us in Romans 5:3-5 to exult God in our tribulations (big word for trouble), because tribulations brings about perseverance, perseverance brings about proven character, and proven character brings about hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Let the Bible speak into your lives in all sorts of situations... good and bad. It is the Word of Life and the source of wisdom and knowledge that won't fail. Often as ministers we teach about acting on these principles found in Scripture and often times when we do, we are very far removed from the experiences that warrant the use of those verses. Allow me to teach from the trail that I am in the middle of running down right now and how (once again) the Bible proves that it is powerful and useful even in this day and age.
I had a moment 10 days ago to either stand up for righteousness and clarify an issue concerning my past or to simply let it slide and potentially cause division. Being upfront meant that we would enter into one of those times where life was simply going to get difficult {Tribulation}(mind you the Bible never calls us to an easy life, but that's another post for another time). But difficulty in life is not any excuse for not being graceful.
At every turn was another chance to choose to do what was right in the sight of the Lord, to extend grace to others, to be humble, and to put the unity of His church first. I praise my Father in heaven for the Holy Spirit who allowed me the strength to do all of these {Perseverance}. If you know the movies at all, there was an instance or two where I felt an awful like Gimli trying to run for days over the hills and open plains with his short stubby legs, "I'm wasted on cross-country! We dwarves are natural sprinters! [pant, pant, heaving breath, pant]" Allow me to write with no sense of conceit, but rather a desire to teach from the situation I find myself currently in, though there were times of exhaustion, pursuing righteousness is worth the effort.
I am thankful for all the grace and kindness extended to my family and I and all the encouraging things that have been said about us over the past several days {Proven Character}. It is my prayer that these character qualities aren't seen as some inner strength of our own making, but rather solely from the Lord and that they would drive people to a deeper relationship with Him.
Sure things are uncertain in our lives, but truly, the only thing that is certain is Christ. And what better place is there to look out onto uncertainty from than a place of Hope?

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