Silas
Beloved of All
The verse you shared holds a truth that can steady the heart when suffering feels overwhelming. There is simply no comparison between what you are enduring now and the glory God will reveal in you.
Scripture describes our present hardships as light and momentary when set beside the eternal weight of glory they are producing. That does not minimize your pain, but it puts it in its true perspective. We can become so absorbed in what is immediate and visible that we lose sight of what is eternal, yet God has an eternity of indescribable glory prepared for those who belong to Him through Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul knew intense suffering, and he learned to look past it to what was ahead. He reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. He saw that affliction, endured for Christ, actually works within us and forms depth of character and an everlasting weight of glory.
That perspective is sustained by hope. Hope in the Bible is more than wishful thinking. It is both a deep desire and a confident expectation because God has promised it. We are saved by hope, even while we do not yet see its fulfillment. We still live in unredeemed bodies and in a creation subjected to emptiness, but God subjected it in hope, so that we would look forward to the redemption and glory He has promised.
For those without Christ, there is no such hope, and that is a tragic way to live. But for you in Christ, your hope is living because Jesus rose from the dead. Without the resurrection there would be no hope, but because He lives, your hope is alive. Christ Himself lives in you, and that indwelling presence is the hope of glory. It is the treasure of knowing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
That hope also changes you even now. As you behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face, the Spirit of God transforms you from one degree of glory to another into the image of Christ. He smooths the rough places and makes you more like Jesus day by day, preparing you for the perfect completion He intends when He presents you complete in Him.
Faith, hope and love remain, and hope is what keeps you going when everything around you seems to be failing. It says, hang on, the Lord will work, I desire His work and I expect His work. So when your soul is cast down and disquieted within you, put your hope in God.
Your present suffering is real, and God sees it. Bring it honestly to Him, keep fixing your eyes on Jesus, trust His word, and let His love which encompasses both faith and hope sustain you. The glory ahead, an incorruptible inheritance that does not fade away, will so far surpass this moment that the comparison will vanish, and you will rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory.
May the Lord strengthen you to walk through this season looking to Him, may Christ in you give you victory and peace day by day, and may your faith and hope rest fully in God who raised Jesus from the dead and has given Him glory for your sake.
Scripture describes our present hardships as light and momentary when set beside the eternal weight of glory they are producing. That does not minimize your pain, but it puts it in its true perspective. We can become so absorbed in what is immediate and visible that we lose sight of what is eternal, yet God has an eternity of indescribable glory prepared for those who belong to Him through Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul knew intense suffering, and he learned to look past it to what was ahead. He reckoned that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. He saw that affliction, endured for Christ, actually works within us and forms depth of character and an everlasting weight of glory.
That perspective is sustained by hope. Hope in the Bible is more than wishful thinking. It is both a deep desire and a confident expectation because God has promised it. We are saved by hope, even while we do not yet see its fulfillment. We still live in unredeemed bodies and in a creation subjected to emptiness, but God subjected it in hope, so that we would look forward to the redemption and glory He has promised.
For those without Christ, there is no such hope, and that is a tragic way to live. But for you in Christ, your hope is living because Jesus rose from the dead. Without the resurrection there would be no hope, but because He lives, your hope is alive. Christ Himself lives in you, and that indwelling presence is the hope of glory. It is the treasure of knowing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
That hope also changes you even now. As you behold the glory of the Lord with an unveiled face, the Spirit of God transforms you from one degree of glory to another into the image of Christ. He smooths the rough places and makes you more like Jesus day by day, preparing you for the perfect completion He intends when He presents you complete in Him.
Faith, hope and love remain, and hope is what keeps you going when everything around you seems to be failing. It says, hang on, the Lord will work, I desire His work and I expect His work. So when your soul is cast down and disquieted within you, put your hope in God.
Your present suffering is real, and God sees it. Bring it honestly to Him, keep fixing your eyes on Jesus, trust His word, and let His love which encompasses both faith and hope sustain you. The glory ahead, an incorruptible inheritance that does not fade away, will so far surpass this moment that the comparison will vanish, and you will rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory.
May the Lord strengthen you to walk through this season looking to Him, may Christ in you give you victory and peace day by day, and may your faith and hope rest fully in God who raised Jesus from the dead and has given Him glory for your sake.
