To Encourage You

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

One of the things I’ve enjoyed since my retirement eight years ago is participating in a bowling league with other retired men from our area.  It’s great getting together to compete, and I’ve really enjoyed the friendships that I’ve developed there.  We talk about hunting, fishing, family, and the like.  But if you’ve been around people over 60 years of age very much, you’ll notice how often the conversations turn to health issues – such as the last – or next – doctor appointment.  Sometimes we joke and ask each other “what’s wrong with you this week?”  The apostle Paul alludes to this sort of thing in the verse above. He calls them “the sufferings of this present time.”  A few verses later he speaks about how the whole creation – not just humans – are in a condition of “groaning.”  It’s one of the consequences of Adam’s fall by which all the world has been affected by decay and death.   And for the Christian, particularly those who are persecuted for their faith, the suffering can be even greater than for a non-believer. 

But then Paul talks about a future condition that will be infinitely better- for the believer.  He tells us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  What an awesome truth this is.  Here on earth, such as in our bowling league, we spend so much time comparing one person’s suffering to another’s.  And it’s not just physical suffering.  Suffering can extend into every area of life – family problems, financial difficulties, emotional breakdowns, you name it – such things surround us.  We can get into conversations when we talk about such things where one story leads to another that just tops the last one. It can go on and on as we compare one struggle to another. But for the believer, there is coming a time when life will be so utterly transformed that what we experience and what we talk about will supplant the sufferings of this life so much so that the sufferings of this life won’t be worth bringing up at all.  The comparisons of the glory to come with the sufferings we experience now won’t be worthy of talking about for the glory will so vastly overshadow what we now think is so burdensome.  Notice that the verse above talks about the glory that is to be revealed “to us.”  Some Bible translations say “the glory that is to be revealed in us.”  Both are true. 

The Scripture tells us that “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Christians get a foretaste of these things in this life as God opens their eyes to the glory that was hidden from them previously because of the darkness of sin and unbelief.  Nevertheless, we also know that “now we see in a mirror dimly” or as other translations say, “as in a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).  However wonderful the truths of God that shine on our heart today, they will be magnified a thousand times over in heaven. But what about the glory to be revealed “in us.”  This is likely an allusion to the fact that “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (the second part of 1 Corinthians 13:12).  As I heard Harry Lee, a Chinese Christian who had been persecuted in prison for many years for his faith, say years ago as he visited our church, “Right now we often don’t know the results of our prayers. We don’t know what our giving meant. We don’t have a very good idea of the results of the seeds we planted in another person’s life as we shared the gospel with them.  But in heaven we will know.  We will fully know the influence of our lives on others for the glory of God as we faithfully obeyed our Lord’s commands.”  And besides all that, we will personally be fully transformed to be like Christ. As the Scriptures promise us “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is” (1 John 3:2). 

How awesome this is!  How glorious the things that are coming for the believer! How very unworthy our current sufferings are to be compared to these things!  The future is truly bright, for the believer. 

But for the unbeliever, the opposite is, sadly, true. The sufferings of this life will not be worthy to compare to the sufferings to come – a future of darkness, weeping, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10). 

So what about your future? What will you have? Glory beyond compare or suffering beyond compare?  You will have one or the other according to the eternal Truth of God’s Word.  And all of it revolves around the answer to this question: Will you believe in the One Who suffered and died for your sins so that you could share in His righteousness and the glory that is to come?