Suffering

What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Romans 8:18

MANY CHRISTIANS EXPERIENCE suffering every day. Perhaps they struggle with chronic illnesses, addictions, financial problems they simply can’t solve, or other situations that leave them weary and broken.

Some suffering is more emotional in nature. One man who runs a home business has worked for years to make a good profit. Yet sometimes it looks as though things are getting worse instead of better, and he wonders how he’ll provide for his family.

A woman married to an alcoholic prays daily for her husband’s salvation. She tearfully stumbles into her weekly support group feeling she really has no hope.

Others suffer in silence, never telling their friends or relatives what it’s really like to live in their skins. One man, blind and suffering from chronic pain, gets little help from doctors. They simply don’t know how to help him.

Similarly, Paul knew what it was to suffer. You can read about the things he went through in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. His difficulties ranged from being beaten with rods three different times to being stoned. Yet Paul kept looking up. What did he see? As this passage says, he realized that no matter what he faced in this world, it didn’t compare at all to the greatness of the next.

God promises to take you out of this world to another, where every hope is fulfilled. So refuse to look at your troubles and think that they will go on forever. They won’t.