Suffering? Better Times Are Coming!
Suffering? Better Times Are Coming!
Are you suffering today? Have broken dreams, unfulfilled promises, failing health, financial crisis, or loss of a loved one left you in the pit of despair? God doesn’t want you to be discouraged; He wants you to be encouraged because of Jesus. Better times are coming! That’s what the Apostle Paul told the church in Romans 8:18 when he said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The word Paul uses for “suffering” implies any kind of evil, afflictions, misfortunes, calamities, persecutions, or sicknesses. In fact, when Paul said, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us,” he was saying, if you put all of your suffering on one side of the scales and the glory that is awaiting you as a follower of Jesus Christ on the other side of the scales, there is no comparison! Imagine receiving a resurrected body (Romans 8:23), complete Christlikeness (1 John 3:2), an inheritance as a co-heir with Christ (1 Peter 1:3-5), sinless perfection (Psalm 17:15), and being in the presence of Jesus and the family of God forever (John 14:2-3)! Are you telling me that getting a perfect body, a perfect home, a perfect DNA, a perfect inheritance, and being in the presence of the perfect Master where there is fullness of joy and pleasures at His right hand, forevermore doesn’t get you excited? Surely the hymn writer got it right when he said, “O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me!”
Beloved, if you are a follower of Jesus, remember that no matter how bad it might seem for you right now, when you look at and consider all of your sufferings, when you are in Heaven with Jesus, they will not compare to the glory you are enjoying in Heaven because of Jesus and what he did for you at Calvary. So today, don’t be discouraged; be encouraged, because of Jesus, better times are coming! Hallelujah!
This is Laine Wilder for Carry the Light Ministries, bringing you Insights From an Elder.
by Laine Wilder
Author of “Insights From an Elder” for
Carry the Light Ministries
