We are uniquely and personally created by the Lord God Almighty (Genesis 2:7) but we are also those who sin, who fall short of His glory (Romans 3:23). Yet, all who believe are saved, justified (made righteous) by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).
We are saved, but we still live on this earth. We still live in a fallen world. This is why there are “the sufferings of this present time” (Romans 8:18). We suffer the consequences of our own sin, we suffer due to other people’s sin, and we suffer because the creation itself was affected by the fall (Romans 8:20).
All of us have had trouble in our lives. For some of us, this year has been very difficult. The Bible is honest about trouble. We are not told that everything will be easy after becoming a Christian.
But we are given an awesome promise in today’s verse: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
This is saying that the glory that is to come – when we enter into what we were created to be, in the fullness of God’s presence – is SO glorious that the “sufferings of this present time” will seem like nothing.
This truth doesn’t stop the suffering but it carries us through the suffering. Jesus, “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
We, for the joy that is set before us, have the power by His grace to keep going with His joy and strength, and to endure whatever the world, the flesh and the devil throw at us.
What is being thrown at us now is huge. It is a worldwide pandemic with all the trouble that brings. Jesus says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Today, let’s look “not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
The best is yet to come 