Hope For the Suffering

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8:18

No one enjoys suffering. No one desires to suffer. Yet, the Bible is filled with stories and examples of man’s sufferings. Look around the world today and you will find suffering. It comes in all shapes, sizes and has no partiality to who it visits or inhabits. Suffering is a fact of life; one we cannot escape. So, what do we do about it? We hold on. We wait and we hope in the eternal glory that awaits us in heaven. Jesus promised that He would go and prepare a place for us (John 14:2) and that place is there right now, waiting on us. Nothing on this earth can begin to compare to what awaits those of us who are in Christ. Are you suffering today? Maybe you are watching loved ones suffer and you feel helpless towards what to do for them. Take everything to Jesus and cry out to Him. No one understands suffering better than our Lord Jesus. Our suffering cannot begin to compare to what He endured at the cross. Jesus chose to suffer and die on our behalf, so that our earthly suffering would be but for a moment in comparison to our eternity with Him. Do not lose hope. Sink into God’s word for comfort and assurance and pray your heart out to Him. Ask for the wisdom to understand and for the power to live in the fullness of His love and grace. You will be filled with an inner peace and joy that surpasses the presence of pain, as your eyes look towards the eternal and not the temporal. Paul prayed this prayer for the church at Ephesus. Meditate on and pray for these things today. (Read Ephesians 1 for the complete text.) [I] do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:16-20.