Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15, Hebrews 12:1-11
This Sunday, our own Bob Bartlett is offering worship leadership, and he has chosen some powerful pieces of Scripture on which to reflect.
This week’s readings invite us to consider how God meets us – not in moments of ease alone, but in the real, complicated, and sometimes painful places of life. They remind us that while God does not send hardship our way, God is present with us through our pain. In the very midst of life’s struggles, the Spirit is at work – guiding, strengthening, and inviting us to grow.
In Romans 5:1-5, Paul writes about the peace we have with God through Jesus Christ – a peace that holds steady even when life is anything but peaceful. He dares to say that even suffering can lead somewhere good: to endurance, to character, and ultimately to hope. Not because suffering is good, but because God’s love, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, can meet us there and help us grow.
Jesus echoes this promise in John 16:12-15, telling his disciples that the Spirit of truth will come to guide them into deeper understanding. He acknowledges that there is much they don’t yet know – and can’t yet bear – but assures them that they won’t be left alone. The Spirit will lead them forward, step by step. It’s a reminder that God meets us right where we are, but doesn’t leave us there. The Spirit walks with us into truth, into healing, into hope.
And in Hebrews 12:1-11, we’re invited to imagine our lives as a race run with perseverance. The passage doesn’t deny that the race is hard – it names the exhaustion, the discipline, and the pain. But it also offers encouragement: that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, that we can lay aside the things that weigh us down, and that God’s desire is not to punish, but to shape us into wholeness. Again, the message is not that hardship is sent by God — but that nothing we go through is outside of God’s loving, redeeming reach.
With these scriptures and encouragement in mind, I invite you into some deeper reflection on your own journey through life and through faith.
- How have you experienced God’s presence in the midst of a difficult season?
- What practices help you stay open to the Spirit’s guidance when you feel unsure or weary?
- Are there “weights” or distractions in your life that are keeping you from running freely?
- What kind of hope is God forming in you right now?
As you carry these reflections into the rest of your week, remember: God does not cause our pain, but God never abandons us in it. The Spirit walks with us, bearing truth, comfort, and quiet invitations to grow – one breath, one step, one grace-filled moment at a time.
Let’s pray:
Loving God, You are not the cause of our pain, but you never leave us alone in it. When life feels heavy, help us sense your Spirit beside us – guiding, strengthening, and gently calling us to grow. Give us courage to face what is hard, faith to trust your presence, and hope that rises even in the struggle. We offer this and all our prayers in the strong name of Jesus Christ, our comfort and our strength. AMEN
