We’ve eaten a lot more homemade meals because of the COVID-19 induced sequester.  As a result, I’ve made a lot more iced tea than usual. In fact, I’m slipping on a fresh glass as I type this.  As I steeped today’s teabags I remembered an important lesson.

I don’t know of anyone who eats tea leaves.  In order to enjoy tea, we have to submerge the teabags in hot water.  The hot water brings out whatever is in the teabags.

I hesitate to call the effects of coronavirus on my life “suffering.”  I am merely inconvenienced.  But many are truly suffering.  Some have lost their lives or the life of a close relative.  Some are hospitalized and their families are unable to visit. 

Small business owners watch as their life investment is wasting away.  People are losing jobs.  Retirement accounts on which many depend are diminishing in value.  Real, live suffering is taking place.  What I am experiencing in all of this is a mere inconvenience.  Shame on me for being petty when others are truly suffering.

A Biblical Truth

But whether it is inconvenience or true suffering, times like this reveal our true character.  Consider the words of Paul.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…

Romans 5:2-4

In these verses Paul reminds us that suffering eventually reveals character.  His text shows how this can work positively.  Our hardships can build our spiritual, emotional, and even physical endurance.  Endurance becomes a lasting character trait, and character leads us to have hope.

It all depends on how we choose to view our hardships.  Paul points out two truths that shape a positive result.  First, we stand by the grace of God.  The gospel of Jesus was not just to forgive us for our past sins and secure a future home in heaven.  The gospel also means we have the work of Christ active in our lives today.

Second, we can have hope when we look for the glory of God in our circumstances.  If we are irritated by the inconveniences of our hardship, our focus is inward. However, when prioritize with God’s agenda we begin to see His hand at work around us. 

A Teabag Application

We have a choice of how we will view these present circumstances.  We can yield to fear, frustration, or fatalism.  Or, on the contrary, we can view this as an opportunity for God to work in a different way IN us and THROUGH us.

What attitude will you take today?  Irritation or rejoicing?  Fear or faith?  Despair or hope?  Will you continue to grieve your own personal inconvenience or will you look for ways to serve God creatively and intentionally?  We’re in hot water right now.  What will these circumstances reveal about your character?

Read also The Road to Steadfastness