But that’s not all! We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure.  And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5 CEV) God’s power and presence is with us in all our life and all our situations.  That is true, but some have taken these verses from this Sunday’s text and applied them carelessly.  I have heard some counsel those going through cancer or the loss of a loved one or suffering a very painful end of life journey, that these verses tell us God is building our character through these sufferings. This misses the point the Apostle Paul is teaching us.  Paul is building on his previous phrase “And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”  Paul is telling us that even when the hope of the glory of God brings suffering to us, we can rejoice because God is forming within us his character. In 1 Peter 2, Peter gives us an insight on the suffering that God uses for our character: “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps (2:21)”  The God of redemption is with us in the sufferings or trials that come when do the right thing and follow the example of Christ Jesus.