I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed for us.
For our part we tacitly acknowledge this fact, that life is short and that the life to come is eternal. But it seldom seems to provide for us the hope that it did for Paul and the saints.
From heaven even the most miserable life will look like one bad night at an inconvenient hotel.
The saints find great consolation in the hope of the Gospel. Yet what happens for us is that the difficulties and sufferings of life press in while the hope and promise of heaven seems to become ever more abstract, elusive, and ephemeral. It doesn't work for us to merely shut our eyes to the hardships of mortal life and try to force feed our imagination images of heaven, nor is this what God intends. We are meant to have a perspective that can fit what we see going on around us into our understanding of God's plan, how even the challenges we face contain within themselves the implicit hope for redemption.
For creation awaits with eager expectation
the revelation of the children of God;
for creation was made subject to futility,
not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it,
in hope that creation itself
would be set free from slavery to corruption
and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
When we see our sufferings not as annoyances to be minimized or ignored, but as "groaning in labor pains" of something being brought to birth we become able to maintain our hope of heaven even with our eyes open here on earth. We no longer run the risk of being so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. Further, we come to realize that our own suffering participate in these groans and gain meaning thereby.
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
and not only that, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Man and woman were subjected to futility and labor pains, and creation along with them, because of their sin. This wasn't just an unfortunate natural consequence of that unfortunate choice. It was rather allowed by God so that by the means of that very futility, corruption, and pain, and a new world could be brought to birth, and with it, sons and daughters who would "share in the glorious freedom of the children of God".
For in hope we were saved.
Now hope that sees for itself is not hope.
For who hopes for what one sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.
We do not always perfectly understand the way the this or that specific instance of sufferings maps unto this or that blessing or restoration. In fact, much of the suffering we see does appear to us to be meaningless, cruel, and unnecessary. But our hope lets us hold that somehow, that too is creation groaning. It is not necessarily that the specific people who suffered deserved what they got. But it is the case that all who are willing to embrace suffering as labor pains toward something greater do in fact benefit. They grow in endurance as they themselves come closer and closer to the goal.
When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world (see John 16:21).
In terms of impacting the world around us our hope starts small, even to the degree of being hidden, like a mustard seed, or like yeast. But as we begin to rely on it we begin see even now the growth of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Even before the complete restoration of all things we see the just how much potential is in the "firstfruits" we have been given. Creation is groaning, but the tree is already growing, already providing shelter for the birds of the sky. While we must yet earn our bread by sweat and toil we already receive a massive batch of leavened dough which we can use to sate our own spiritual hunger and that of the world. If we are not yet convinced the invitation to us is, "Taste and see!"
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
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