Present Sufferings - 1

Paul writes this in Romans 8: 18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Two huge words hang high before us. They are, sufferings and glory. Most understandable, when one hears those two words used together, the mind more often than not, goes to soldiers and such high-profile men and women in the military service. We see them as fighting in wars and other conflicts, bearing all the sufferings - hardships, traumas, losses, injuries, pains and more – but receiving glory in the end. When the sufferings are all over, they receive the honour and glory in whichever tangible ways chosen for them. With pride, honour and deep joy, they receive the glory. For them, the victory, outshines the suffering. 

Look at the mother who has had a rough nine months of carrying her child and an even more painful delivery time. When she holds that precious bundle of joy in her arms, the sheer victory and glory she feels in seeing and holding her child, outrides all that she went through in the past.  

These are but two scenarios, out of scores of others and I know that you have your own personal testimonies on the same. Nevertheless, many of us need to understand this truth on a more spiritual level. We need to understand and accept this truth by faith and live consciously with it. What is the truth that Paul offers us? It is that Present Sufferings and Future Glory are incomparable.

This devotion has been divided into two obvious sections. Present Sufferings and Future Glory

Present Sufferings

There’s so much to receive here, it is literally stupendous. It’s like being taken on a cruise to places so stunningly beautiful, so unbelievably magnificent that with each new sight, you find yourself giving louder and louder praises to God.

You cannot but give all praise to God, Creator and Lord, for you know that He is the Creator and Maintainer of all that beauty, design and order. You are compelled to remember that every single bit of marvellous nature that you are seeing, comes at the Hands of God and God alone. From the tiniest shrub, to the majestic, tall trees; from the low plains to the towering high mountains; from the lowly rolling waves in the ocean, to the mighty crashing breakers, they all come from the One Source, God.

We are encouraged to look at our lives, for God gives us life, and be taken on a tour of our lives as presented by Paul. This tour is only for those who know present sufferings. You are looking at your life and the lives of others in Christ Jesus, whom to look at presently is not a happy picture. There is much suffering, within and without. With every move made and every breath taken, there is increasing suffering. Paul is perfect to lead us on such a cruise, because he knew suffering, as many of us have never known and perhaps will never know.

We need to pause, to see this servant of Jesus who is worthy to lead us in this time of suffering. We are hushed as we listen to him.

Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool – I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness – besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? 2 Corinthians 11: 23 – 29. 

Many of us are staggered at such sufferings and want to be out of here in a jiffy. O the piercing questions that raise their heads, but do we really want to receive any answers? How can Paul, a human being like you and me, after all that suffering, pain and gross evil, utter these words? For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Though we come haltingly, we carry on tomorrow.