Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Why do people enjoy roller coasters? Even though coasters can be scary because of the crazy heights, speed, and twisting turns, people still look forward to them! They enjoy the excitement, the rush, and the happiness that flow from our physical feelings being stimulated. As humans, we often live for thrills like that to entertain us. We anticipate them gladly, not with dread or worry, because we are intentionally seeking out that kind of emotional high—and because we know it is temporary. So why is it so difficult for us to view trials and change in the same way?
In this current series on changing seasons, I’ve talked a lot about the difficulty of change in life, as well as the pain that change can bring. Throughout these discussions, I’ve tried to keep pointing us back to trusting God, who is in control over all the change we experience. My last post focused on God’s strength as the only hope to get us through times when we are missing previous seasons or grieving the losses that change can bring. Today I want to take a step back in the change process and encourage us to see how we can choose to have joy as we await coming change—even when we don’t know what to expect, even if it’s unwanted, and even if it is bad.
My goal and hope for today’s discussion is that it will help you see truths from God’s Word that demonstrate how we can anticipate the joy of new seasons, rather than our natural tendencies to hold on to the present or to scramble for control over any and all change. The verse I opened with today, Romans 12:12, is a very simple yet challenging command for us as believers. I want to walk through the three parts of this command as a way to start our conversation on anticipating change joyfully.
In the first eleven verses of Romans 12, Paul discusses ways that the Christian is called to live as a member of Christ’s Body, the Church. He discusses how we are to be living sacrifices (vs. 1-2) to God, how to use our gifts and humble ourselves in service to the rest of the Body (vs. 3-8), and how to love practically in our relationships (vs. 9-11). Romans 12:12 then gives three commands, or exhortations, for the believer:
Be joyful in hope
Be patient in affliction
Be faithful in prayer
First, Paul says to “be joyful in hope.” After 11 verses of instructions on how to obey God in love and service to others, Paul reminds his readers that in order to live that kind of life, we must seek to be joyful in our hope. I love that he frames this idea as a verb, an action. “Joy” isn’t just a reactive or passive feeling, like happiness. Because of our faith in Christ, our saving hope, we can choose to be joyful. To do so we must call to mind the truths of the Gospel. We must give thanks for the amazing gift of salvation and continuous work of Christ in our lives. When we keep setting our minds on those truths, on the things above (Colossians 3:1-3), we can’t help but feel joyful and hopeful.
So when we know change in life is about to happen, and we don’t want it or don’t know what to expect, we must practice anticipating the change with joy because of our grounding hope in Christ. Maybe you know you’re about to move, and the natural tendency may be to dread the work of preparing, packing, and starting over in a new house or new community. I challenge you to stop and reflect on how Jesus has changed your life and how your purpose is to bring glory to Him no matter where you are. Thank God for the work of the Gospel in your life until now, and then choose to rejoice and be glad in the fact that He will continue to be faithful to you in this new season. Even if moving is hard in a multitude of ways, we can still choose to respond and anticipate with joy because of our hope in Christ.
The second exhortation in Romans 12:12, is “be patient in affliction.” Affliction could be used to describe all sorts of trials, troubles, and heartaches in our lives. We could also use it to think about the difficulty of going through change. Sometimes changing seasons of life includes suffering, or even just a humbling and reminder of our need to die to ourselves. In our afflictions, whatever they may be, we are again given an action of what we are to do—be patient. The idea of practicing patience has been a theme throughout this series on handling change biblically because our sin nature does not naturally want to be patient. I’ve touched on this previously, but since our sin nature longs to be in control and take the place of God, we don’t usually enjoy being patient in trials and change.
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit working in our lives and making us more like Christ (Galatians 5:22-25). When we continue to prioritize God’s Word and are prayerfully asking Him to grow our faith, the Holy Spirit will enable to us to produce more fruit. As we anticipate change and seek to do so joyfully, we can acknowledge and cry out to God regarding our suffering and affliction. In the hard, we must seek to ask our Father for help to be patient, to trust the work He is doing. Practicing patience is active, not passive. It’s a step of obedience, admitting and accepting that God has a purpose in whatever change we are facing.
The third command in Romans 12:12 is to be “faithful in prayer.” What are we to faithfully pray for? To start, we must pray for God to help us have joyful hope and to be patient in affliction. If we want to anticipate and respond to change joyfully, we need to faithfully pray for God’s help. Just like we must rely on His strength and not our own, we must also rely on Him to be hopeful, patient, and faithful.
An example from my own life of needing to be faithful in prayer while awaiting change is how over the next couple of months my husband and I will be awaiting our first foster care placement. We know this is a change that will transform our life and priorities, as I’ve shared before, and while we are excited for it we are not always joyfully anticipating the change. When we remember the things we have to give up, or how we need to reorient our schedule, or all the things we need to do to prepare for a child to live in our home, joy can be far from our minds. But the more faithful I am in praying for God’s joy to be my anchor and hope, that He would grant me patience now and in the future as a foster parent, the more I trust Him and see His goodness in this change.
Our greatest example, however, of what living out Romans 12:12 in the middle of difficult change in life is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12 describes how our Savior responded when knowing that He would have to die on the Cross in our place:
Hebrews 12:1-3
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Jesus not only went willingly to the Cross in our place, but He did it joyfully! It says “For the joy set before Him He endured the Cross.” What a beautiful and perfect picture of humble obedience and submission to our God and Father when the worst possible change was about to happen. Jesus was about to face separation from His Father, endure pain and abandonment, all for the sake of others. Yet His hope was in His Father’s plan (Mark 14:35-36). He demonstrated patience amidst affliction (1 Peter 2:23). Throughout His life, He made faithful prayer a priority (Luke 5:16).
I challenge you today to think about the changes you’re facing or about to face. In what ways can you seek to live out Romans 12:12 in the waiting? How can you practically seek to follow Christ’s example in anticipating change with joy because you trust your Heavenly Father’s plan? I pray this post is a starting point for you to evaluate your emotions and reactions to change, and that it gives you hope and help for how to imitate our Savior in this area of life.
My next and last post in this series will continue digging into these principles and will look at more biblically-backed ways we can prepare well for change. Until then, I want to thank you again for listening to or reading Speaking Truth. Have a wonderful day!
Anticipate Joyfully