Romans 5: 3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
We tend to think that trying times make us hard, they steel us, like an athlete that works hard to discipline his body. I think there is some truth to that. God's discipline enables us to endure. He is building endurance in us by training us. But God is not making us hard. He is making us strong by making us soft. Here, patience produces experience and experince produces hope. A hopeful man is a soft man but one who has got there through the hardships of suffering.
Hardships make hard men harder and soft men softer. Experience produces hope because it took patience to wait upon the Lord. Having waited, experience sees what patience could not. And hope springs from knowing that God is faithful, just as He promised. This hopeful heart is a soft heart. It is like a piece of hard leather that is very strong but only useful when patiently oiled and coaxed into a supple state.
So, the thing I never noticed is that hard experience through patient suffering is the mother of hope.
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