An End In Sight

An End in Sight

Women In Smyrna

Read: Revelation 2:8-11

As I walked across my parents’ small farm, one thought kept coming to my mind: Only for a little while. I saw where I had spent hours as a child, sitting on a clump of tree roots jutting out of the pond and pretending that I was on an island. All that remained was a dry depression in the ground. Then I walked through what used to be cotton fields, where my family had worked long days in the hot sun all summer. Growing up, I felt as if the dust, blisters, and backaches would go on forever. From the perspective of my present age, it seems that those days lasted for only a little while.

The women in Smyrna needed a reminder that all our earthly experience is temporary. These believers had endured extreme poverty and intense persecution from Gentiles and from Jews who were hostile to Christianity. Jesus warned them that more suffering would come: Satan would have some believers thrown into prison. Others would face death. But Jesus urged them not to be afraid of the suffering since it would not last. The phrase “ten days” indicated a limited period of time. The believers’ suffering would have a definite end determined by God.

We may not always understand the reason for our troubles, but we can be certain that suffering will come and that it will end. Although we go through painful experiences, they pale in comparison to the future glory of being in Jesus’ presence, free from sin and sorrow. Jesus knew that he faced an excruciating death by crucifixion, but he also knew that the pain would be temporary. He looked ahead to his resurrection and glorious ascension to heaven. From an eternal perspective, any pain we suffer is brief, and it prepares us for the everlasting joy of heaven.

Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

2 Corinthians 4:17