Rejoice in My Sufferings!?

You know how you can read and hear a passage so many times and yet still find or realize something new about it?  I love how God brings to light the truths we need at just the right time.  I'm working on a newsletter-type post for the blog to update everyone on our 2011 and in the process of reflecting, I've realized that last year was, by far, the most difficult year of my life.  It had its joys, but it was also full of much heartache, hardship, and grieving which, I hate to admit, left me questioning God's goodness at times.  It was tough, but God is faithful and James and I both learned a lot this past year (and realized how much we still have left to learn!).  Anyway, as I'm reflecting on our trials of the past year, I came across Romans 5 and was particularly struck by the end of verse 2-5.  It says,

...and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  MORE THAN THAT, WE REJOICE IN OUR SUFFERINGS, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (ESV, emphasis added)

I actually had to read that several times to make sure I was reading it correctly.  Of course I know that we are to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Isn't that what hope is?  But then the next phrase jumped out and grabbed me.  "More than that, we rejoice in the our sufferings..."  Ummm...I'm supposed to be rejoicing more in my sufferings than in the hope of the glory of God?  What?

I like what my study Bible has to say about this passage.  It says,

The people of God rejoice not only in future glory but in present trials and sufferings, not because trials are pleasant but because they produce a step-by-step transformation that makes believers more like Christ.

Boy, was that convicting!  Yes, we rejoice in the future hope we have in Christ, but more than just knowing Christ, our suffering and trials make us like Christ which should cause us to rejoice even more!  I don't know about you, but rejoicing isn't the first thing that comes to my mind when I'm in the midst of a trial.  I pray that as I work through my current trials and whatever new trials 2012 brings, I will be able to rejoice in them!