Romans 5:3-5

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Paul goes on to say that not only do trials develop our Endurance, but endurance develops in us strength of: 

• Character

Character is who we are when nobody is looking. The Bible tells us that God searches our hearts to determine the level of character that has been developed in us. How a Believer deals with the circumstances of their life speaks of their character. That is why we can celebrate in the midst of our crisis, because while adversity doesn’t necessarily make character, it does reveal it. Crisis in our lives is a crossroads where we get to choose either the path of character or that of compromise. Jesus is our ultimate example of character and every time we choose character, we grow more into the image of Christ. Character is more than just talk, anyone can say they have integrity but action is the true indicator, as Proverbs 20:11 says, “The character of even a child can be known by the way he acts whether what he does is pure and right.” “Your walk talks and your talk talks but your walk talks louder than your talk talks. The truth is your character determines your direction, because your character is your compass. Christ like character will always steer you to serve, but a corrupt character will steer you into sin. So let me ask you is your ruder set for service or sin, are you running after righteousness or ruin?  Today we desperately need to guard our character because as our compass it provides direction to our drive. Many people today are driving dangerously because they are driving without direction as a result of corrupt character. While talent is a gift character is a choice. Now there are a lot of things in life that we have no control over. We don’t get to pick our parents, our upbringing, our talents, or even our IQ but we do get to choose our character. One of the most missed truths is that not only do we get to choose our character we get to create it every time we make choices. Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Proverbs 1:28-30 says, “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.” Proverbs 3:31 “Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.” What about you, will you choose the easy way or the right way? Because the reality is that people will never rise above the limitations of their character. Have you ever seen extremely talented and gifted people fall apart when they reach a certain level of success? The reason for this phenomenon is character. Success without a solid foundation of character will always crumble and fail. True character is revealed in the midst of challenges, just like Josephs when he resisting Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39:7-12. Our English word “Tribulation” comes from the Latin word “Tribulum” this is important to note because when Paul wrote that we can rejoice in our tribulations he used a word picture that his readers would be able relate to. A Tribulum in Paul’s day was a heavy timber fashioned like a sledge that could be pulled over the grain. It had spikes in it that looked like teeth made of stone or iron, that when drawn over the grain would separate the wheat from the chaff. What Paul was saying is that as we go through tribulations, and cling to God’s grace, the trials are profitable because they purify by helping us to get rid of the chaff. We need difficult challenges because they remove the chaff. James echo’s this same truth about character being cultivated in the midst of the misery in James 1:2-4 “Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”Contrary to the prosperity theology God is not so much concerned with our comfort as He is in our character. Because character is so critical we need to take the time to search our lives for cracks in our character. Take time to look at every aspect of your life, from your relationship with God, your spouse, your children, your peers, even with your employer. Identify those short cuts or short comings in your life and write them down. Put them before God in prayer. Take time to look for patterns of persistent problems in your life. Be willing to face the music, because you will never begin to repair your character unless you are willing to face your flaws, reveal them and repent of them. Be willing to rebuild your character, don’t settle for just facing up to your flaws begin to building a new future. Open up about your weaknesses and have the courage to confront them by being accountable to someone else. Trials develop our endurance which cultivates our character and character lead to one more quality that God wants to perfect in us through tough times:

Matthew 6:19-24

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 22 “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! 24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

As we come to the hundredth pandemic perspective we need to look at servanthood. We tend to think that serving is a choice and it’s something we will do if we feel like it, but in reality serving is already a forgone conclusion, we all serve it’s not a choice. The choice becomes who or what we serve, the real issue that we have to wrestle with is who will be our master?  In order to delve deeper into the question of who our master will be we have to wrestle with the word “treasures.” We all have things that we treasure and our hearts are directly tied to what we treasure. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be, the heart follows the treasure! The natural response to treasure is to try and store it up and Jesus doesn’t reject this response to accumulate, He simply wants to give it direction. Because where our treasure is, our heart will be also. What do you treasure? Where we store up our treasure has a large part to do with what our treasure is. If it’s earthly, we store it here, if it’s heavenly, we store it there. Answering what our treasure is not only helps us see where we will store it but also who our master will be. Serving is really about investing and investing is all about the future, what we do today affects tomorrow. There are inherent risks when we decide to invest, we could easily lose all or part of our investment. There are many factors that go into investing but when it is all said and done, the main thing that we are looking for is a return on our investment. 

One of the investment options is the world (v 19)

This option is one that our investment broker Jesus encourages us not to make. He says don’t invest your lives in the things of this world, He knows we will be tempted to try. Scripture doesn’t tell us to stop doing things unless we are prone to doing them and it doesn’t tell us to do things we are prone to do but rather the things we are not. The reason Jesus gives us to not invest in the world is because there are silent destroyers, things that will eat and carry away the investment making it unprofitable. Earthly investments are subject to being eaten by moths and rust, one consumes the other corrodes. Jesus also says that if we put or investment into the world it will be subject to being stolen. All of these are the silent destroyers that quietly eat and take away the investment. 

The other investment option is heaven (v 20)

This is where we are commanded to store our treasure because this is a secure option where there are no silent destroyers. Some questions that we have to ask ourselves when it comes to serving are who are you serving, who is really your master? What is your treasure and where are you storing it? What are you really living for, the temporary or the permanent? Are you securely investing or sloppily stuffing it into this world? Do you need to move your accounts from the bank down the street to the bank up stairs, from an earthly realm to a heavenly one?