March 24: Growing through Challenges
by Nicola Edgar Scripture Reading: Romans 5:3–4 We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. No one naturally celebrates hardship. We pray for ease, for breakthrough for relief not for suffering. Yet in this passage, Paul introduces a perspective that shifts everything: we can find purpose even in pain because God is at work within it. Suffering is not the end of our story it is part of our becoming. Life has a way of stretching us beyond what feels comfortable or manageable. There are seasons when the weight feels too heavy, the waiting too long, and the answers too far away. In those moments, it may seem like nothing good could possibly come from what we're re facing. But God sees what we cannot. He sees how every tear is softening our heart. How every delay is strengthening our faith and how every challenge is shaping something eternal within us. Suffering produces perseverance a ste...