Romans is the book of the Bible I probably spend the most time in. It’s filled with memorable gospel proclamations. It speaks eloquently to the wonders of baptism. It encourages us to use our spiritual gifts for the up-building of the church.

One verse that stands out in this time is Romans 12:12. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” This sums up the Christian life in general, but in our current context it hits home with a bit more force. There is too much in this one verse for one devotion, so why don’t we spread this out over the next few days.

As I mentioned yesterday, Romans 12:12 is a succinct summation of the Christian life. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Yesterday we talked about being joyful in hope. So today, we talk about being patient in affliction.

Patience is the one thing I definitely need more of in this time. Patience with technology as I keep learning new tools to connect with people, patience with governmental leaders as they make extremely challenging decisions that affect millions of people, patience with medical researchers as they continue to work on ways to fight, cure, and test for COVID-19, truly patience with everything and everyone.

For the past two days, we’ve been looking at Romans 12:12 which says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Being faithful in prayer is one aspect of the Christian life that has not been affected by the shelter-in-place order. Prayer can continue from your home just as easily as anywhere else. God is listening wherever you go.

Continue to pray for those who are sick, those who are lonely, those in essential professions such as healthcare, those who are in danger of losing their jobs. Keep praying.