Waiting to get what we really desire, and going through some very trying and difficult times, sometimes we might wonder if it’s worth it. When a young person decides what career they want, they might need to prepare themselves for many years of study before they can actually practice in that field. There are many years of medical school, internship, and then residency before one becomes a doctor. Attorneys have years of law school, and then study to pass the bar examination, before they can practice law. Many science fields, such as astrophysics, take years of study, as well. None of their studies are easy. It’s years of grueling work, but they feel it is definitely worth it when they actually sit down to practice law or medicine. Sometimes a mother has to go through a very dangerous and difficult pregnancy. It can be a very rough nine months, but in the end, when they hold their baby, it is worth it. Scrimping and saving for many years may be rough, but when you finally have the money to buy that property you think it’s worth it. In our Scripture today, the Apostle Paul talks about going through some times of suffering, but afterwards, what we have at the end will make it all worthwhile. Let’s look more at what he has to tell us.
If someone was to offer us a lifetime of pure happiness and no troubles, but first we had to endure just one day of pain, would you take it? One day for a whole lifetime. Many would. Those attorneys and doctors mentioned above felt it was worth several years of difficulty to achieve their dreams. The Apostle Paul shares here that the struggles we go through in our whole life isn’t even worth comparing what believers will have when they enter eternity (vs. 18). Compared to eternity, what is our lifetime? It is just a vapor, a snap of the fingers, compared to heaven.
For the Christian who is living their life for the Lord Jesus, the difficulty, or even misery of the present is no comparison to the glory of the coming future. Our pain won’t last forever, but we will. God is in each day, both the good and the bad. We may go through some tough times, but we can be confident that the Lord has a purpose in them, and will show His glory through them.
When mankind fell after Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, not only did that bring sin and eventual death upon every future person who would later be born, but it also brought death and destruction upon all of creation (vs. 19-22). Everything in creation, including all animals, plants, and even the planet, was affected by Satan’s rebellion and Adam’s fall. Sin has caused all creation to fall from the perfect state in which God had created it. All creation is in bondage to decay. From the Fall of Adam until now, creation has been groaning over the misery caused by sin. However, one day it will all be liberated and transformed. We, along with God’s creation, have a hope for future glory, a new heaven and a new earth that God has promised. We wait for His new order, looking forward to the time when the curse will be lifted, and where there will be a world free from sin, sickness, and evil.
Sometimes it feels like forever before Jesus will return and set everything, including creation, right. We wait and long for that day, and sometimes wonder if it will ever happen. Yet that day will come, for this is the promise of God (vs. 24-25). He does not lie. He never makes a promise that He won’t keep. However, it is not always in our timing.
Faith without patience falls short. They are partners. One without the other brings discouragement. Faith gives us the ability to trust God’s Word. Patience helps us trust His timing. Just as those students who await the day when their long and hard studies will be over, or the mother endures the difficult months before her baby arrives, so we, as believers, eagerly wait with patience for the day when Jesus will return. When that day arrives, everything that we have gone through will make it all worthwhile!
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