Almost two years ago, I was studying the word “worth” and wrote “Don’t Compare Sufferings with Glory”. I was in the same passage this morning as then, Romans 8:18.
“18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” – Romans 8:18 (ESV)
In my writing previously about this passage I compared suffering to glory and came to the realization that when we cannot do so. You see as we suffer, we are only able to see the suffering and the reward is something that escapes our vision. This morning I am revisiting the passage as I study the word “glory” and realized that my previous writing was spot on with regard to not comparing suffering with glory.
I am not cut out for dealing with suffering I suspect that most are similar. We are human and always looking for the win in life. I don’t want to have to deal with adversity at all. Even though that is the case with me, I have to also remember that God will only allow me to take on or suffer with those things that He knows I can overcome. And that is where this verse is so powerful.
God will allow us to suffer, whether it is failure at some venture, death of loved ones, loss in a competition, or simply the flat tire on the way to the office. He allows us to fail for reasons we are not privy to and that really frustrates us. The thing I have to come back to is the verse above that there is “glory that is to be revealed to us”. We do not know what is in store, we only see what is the now. Maybe the failure at some venture was to reveal that our partners were about to do something illegal and we got out just before. Maybe the death of a loved one revealed some deep illness that would have caused months and years of physical pain for them and they are now released from it. Maybe the flat time on the way to the office delayed us just enough that we were able to avoid the accident on the freeway that happened about the time we would have been in that spot.
You see, we can see the now and God can see the later. Our suffering now may be just the thing to bring us to the glory He has in store for us. We cannot see it now, but we should embrace the suffering and adversity, get through it, and bask in the glory God provides on the other side.
When have you suffered? Were you focused on getting through the adversity or looking to getting it over with to get the reward or on to the next thing? What if you simply tackled the adversity knowing that God will provide the glory on the other side?
Trevor's Thoughts 