Romans 8:18

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

Romans 8:18

Can you even begin to wrap your mind around this verse? We live in a world just overwhelmed with suffering. It is heartbreaking and never ending. This is no surprise to God.

"Not worth comparing"? Really? I have two friends who have watched their own babies die. Can you take a second to let the absolute horror of that take hold of you? Paul is telling us in this verse (and in pretty much everything he writes) that the tragedies we walk through can't even compare to what God has planned for us. Think about all the pain and suffering that occurs at St Jude's Hospital, a place just full of kids battling cancer. Think about the most horrible thing you ever heard about happening to someone. These things are enough to send the best of us spiralling into depression. Paul is not trying to belittle the horrors we face. He lived in the first century. I assure you Paul saw and experienced things that would dissolve us into a puddle of fear.

At this very moment, I know of two different families that are watching their children die of brain cancer. I don't even have a relationship with either of these families, I just know of them. And my heart still breaks for them. But what about the heart of God? He knows those kids. He knows their parents. They are beloved to him. And, yet, He is allowing them to suffer and to die. Why?

I don't know the answer. But I do know that God is good. I know how hard that is to cling to in a fallen, hurting world. I know the hope of heaven can be a cold comfort to someone suffering devastation. But I know that it's true. And I know that God is sovereign. Which means He could put an end to any suffering that exists. But He doesn't.

Psalm 103:14 says "For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust." Beth Moore once said "He knows how scary it is to be us." I believe these things are true. God is not immune to our suffering. He knows our pain. He knows our fear. But, above all, He knows the end of all of our stories. And so, when He tells me, through Paul, that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing" I have to believe Him.