Temporary Suffering And Eternal Glory

Good Morning. As we begin, I will ask you to remember to pray for our sister in Christ, Lori Crosson. She lives across the street, but hasn’t been here much at all this year, because she’s suffering from cancer of the esophagus. Not just the cancer but her treatments wreck her body, leaving her constantly feeling beat up, tired, and nauseous. Steph and I visited with her Friday, and when we see pain like Lori’s, it’s easy to ask what is going on in this world, why does God allow suffering, grief and pain like this. It’s ok to ask these questions.

I try not to repeat myself with the same phrases or ideas constantly, hobby horses, but I don’t think I can overstate this particular idea: When you struggle, there is only one place you can find an answer, and it’s not self-medicating, or ignoring our problems. Answers come from the Throne of God. When you reject God, you won’t find answers anywhere else. It’s better to go in your frustration to God, because, we will never find true answers anywhere but His Throne.

Our lessons from Lamentations and Romans both address the reality of suffering and grief in this world, and both point us to hope in God. v. 18 began:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul doesn’t sugarcoat the pain we experience. He says in v. 22 that All Creation Groans, longing for redemption. The world around us—nature, animals, the very earth—bears the scars of sin. Creation was subjected to futility, not by its own choice, but because of the fall. Floods and earthquakes remind us that the world is not as it should be. Deep down, we know something is wrong.

Paul uses imagery in our lesson that Jesus had previously used to describe suffering in this world, a woman in childbirth. Obviously, neither of them, nor me, has ever felt that pain, but I have been assured by someone who has delivered 4 boys without an epidural that it’s pretty severe. (Carol Burnett compares it to taking your bottom lip and pulling it over your head) I remember Gabe’s birth like it was yesterday, holding Steph’s hand, mostly to keep her from trying to castrate me with it.

It was tremendous pain, but once the child was born and she actually held him, She forgot all about it, for the joy of holding him. That’s how we will look back on the sufferings of this life one day, a faint memory overwhelmed by the love and joy we feel in God’s presence.

For now, Paul says our hearts groan as we wait for the redemption of our bodies (v. 23). This waiting is to be active, filled with hope, even when we don’t see the outcome. Paul reminds us in verse 24 that hope that is seen is not hope at all. You can’t hope for something you have! True hope trusts in God’s promises even when the evidence isn’t visible. Epistle to the Hebrews tells us to think of Abraham, who hoped for descendants despite his and Sarah’s old age.

Lamentations was written by Jeremiah as he wept over Jerusalem’s when the city was destroyed, and it’s people taken away into captivity. Jeremiah pours out his heart in grief as all hope seems lost. Yet, in the midst of this devastation, we find one of the most beautiful declarations of God’s faithfulness: As We Gather.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Jeremiah’s “lament” is deeply personal, describing his own anguish from watching the people he loves killed or enslaved.

In tears, he finds a reason to hope, because God’s character is unchanging. His compassion is not a one-time act but a daily renewal. Jeremiah urges patience in v. 2, that we should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Why is it good to wait on the Lord? Again, He is the only one that can bring you true salvation. Drugs, Alcohol, sex, tears, anger, they might be able to mask pain, they can’t remove it.

It's important because in Romans, Paul writes Christians who really need to hear this, because the church in Rome is about to undergo one of the greatest persecutions ever under Nero Caesar. Paul didn’t know this, but the Holy Spirit did, and guided Paul to write them.

They will see families torn apart, Christians unable to buy or sell in the markets, suffer hatred, torture and execution. But whatever they are facing, Paul reminds them that these trials are temporary.

The glory God has prepared for us is eternal, and nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Verse 39.