Romans 5:1-5 — Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Our Pastor preached a great message today. It helped me out with something that’s been on my mind recently.
Myra and I have both been dealing with what you might call “friendly fire” recently. We’ve been attacked unfairly by people who really have no reason to be anywhere but in our corner. I won’t go into details — they are not significant — but the events have raised a question in my mind: “How are we suppose to deal with that?”
Pastor preached on one of my many “favorite” passages of scripture — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. He mentioned the way the text is structured in the Greek and I do like the Young’s Literal Bible translation:

always rejoice ye; continually pray ye; in every thing give thanks, for this [is] the will of God in Christ Jesus in regard to you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 YLT98)

There’s no wiggle room. “Always”, “Continually”, “Everything”. There is no room for whining in the Christian life. Jesus laid out the cost of discipleship:
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The passage from Romans at the head of this piece lays out what I’ve come to think of as a typical “God mechanism”.
Tribulation makes us patient. Patience brings experience. That word “experience” needs explaining. Albert Barnes provides the explanation:

The word rendered experience means trial, testing, or that thorough examination by which we ascertain the quality or nature of a thing, as when we test a metal by fire, or in any other way, to ascertain that it is genuine. It also means approbation, or the result of such a trial; the being approved, and accepted as the effect of a trying process.

That proving process provides hope — that Christian hope which is the vision of Heaven’s gate … A vision that will not be unfulfilled.
It is not automatic, or magical. But in tribulation, we will rejoice. In tribulation we will pray. In tribulation we will give thanks to God — for that is the will of God in Christ Jesus in regard to us. Under friendly fire we will rejoice, pray and give thanks … always, continually and in everything.