Friday, December 22, 2017

Sufferings Now, Glory Later.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Sometimes we talk about our various sufferings and how they were 'worth' it, or the opposite, how they weren’t 'worth it'.

Childbirth is a good example. Who hasn't heard the whole - all that pain was worth it when that baby was put in its mother's arms? How many mothers will back that up? The majority I wager. I’m sure there are some mothers out there who don't agree with the pain being worth it and they may be among those who go on to never have another child again. 

We also hear a lot of 'hero' stories where various people have suffered through accidents, injuries, birth defects, tragedies and so much more only to recover from those and go on to actually benefit from the suffering they went through. Of course hero stories are not the majority, right? If they were the majority they wouldn't really stand out as heroes so much because their triumph over tragedy would be the norm.

Suffering is the word we use to convey unpleasantness of many varying degrees, but true suffering usually comes into play with the more severe types of unpleasantness. We may say we suffered through that boring movie… but that isn't severe, right? We may also say we suffered through the nightmare of abduction and abuse…which is extremely severe. When we read- 'the sufferings of this present time', I personally believe this includes all suffering that a person experiences during their lives, sever sufferings. I can't say your suffering is less than mine because I was abused and you weren't. Your suffering could be emotional trauma of living with debilitating fears, or maybe each day for you is a mental struggle just to exist- you are suffering. One person's suffering may bring them to despair, while another's may give them reason to rise above. As belonging to Christ, we have the hope that He has promised us.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Suffering compared with glory.  Any suffering we may experience now cannot be compared to the eventual revelation of glory in us, the glory of Christ in us.

The suffering, and make NO mistake, there will be a lot of suffering we experience in our lives but no matter the degree of suffering we do have the hope of future glory which can never be taken from us. As long as we are in our right minds and can comprehend in truth the glory of our Savior, we have His hope to sustain us in our deepest depths of suffering.

Some may believe their entire life is one of suffering and in some ways it's true isn't it? Those with chronic illnesses of any sort never stop suffering from those illnesses. People with chronic pain live with that pain endlessly, but prayerfully with some relief through medication. Even those who aren't suffering through illnesses of any kind or pain, can suffer just by living in this sin-filled world and all its endless amount of tragedies, horrors, sicknesses that they witness others suffering.

Where we can- we must strive to alleviate any suffering we encounter. We must do our best to love others in truth which means in our actions. In loving others if we witness their suffering, may our Lord and Savior enable us to help them even in the smallest way possible. And may our hope be in the future revealing of the glory that will be us.

All through Jesus Christ our LORD, our SAVIOR, now and forever!!!!!!! 

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