Our Present Sufferings

I'm getting ready to teach this Sunday on Why do Good People Suffer? Going through some Scriptures I this morning I read Romans 8:18.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. (NLT)

The NIV calls what we suffer now "our present sufferings." Thinking on this passage and "our present sufferings" in view of the glory that is to come, here are some questions to ponder:

• How are you responding to your "present sufferings?"
  
  
  
  • To tell you the truth - I stink at at it. There are more times than I care to count when I'm just really tired of my "present sufferings." I'm ready for them to be over. Then, again, that's just me.
    
  
  

• What are the benefits of enduring suffering (see v. 17)?
  
  
  
  • It's what I often forget - I have the wonderful privilege of sharing in Christ's glry as co-heirs with Him. Is that not the coolest thing ever?
    
  
  

• Do you find it difficult to view today's trials with eternity's rewards in mind?
  
  
  
  • Most definitely! I'm carnal - part of fallen humanity. That side of me desires relief and healing now. I don't think I'm mature enough in my walk to think "eternally." Maybe I should be.
    

Sometimes I think it's difficult for me to have an eternal perspective because I have so much going on in the here and now. My mind, my heart, my eyes are focused on all the stuff around me. I'm afraid that if I take my eyes off of the stuff something will slip through the cracks - it will sneak up on me. Then what will I do?

What about you? How are you handling/viewing your "present sufferings?" Where's your focus?

Father, give me an eternal perspective. I know, in my mind, that today's "present sufferings" don't compare with the glory that's to come. Help me see the comparison in my heart where it really matters.


Gloriously adopted,
Mike